


Flawed Logic

by PoorQueequeg



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Intrigue, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-28
Updated: 2012-11-29
Packaged: 2017-11-19 18:47:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 43,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoorQueequeg/pseuds/PoorQueequeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spock for all his Human gentility, was by Vulcan standards an utter cad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Spontaneous fluff and smut woven together by an ill conceived plot. Don't flame me for it, just enjoy all the mind meldy goodness. Peace and Long Life.

Spock was beginning to appreciate the Human aphorism that romantic love was akin to madness. He was well aware that if he were on Vulcan his behaviour and ever decreasing emotional control would be considered symptomatic of mental illness. He was however in current circumstances willing to concede that his Human genes placed him at a disadvantage in this respect and considered that it was perhaps the most pleasing disadvantage he had ever suffered.

"They're so lifelike," Nyota uttered wistfully, staring transfixed at the portraits on the gallery wall. Spock however was rather more interested in staring at her. Her eyes were smudged with kohl in a most alluring fashion, her hair curling slightly around her face and her attire was likewise utterly pleasing.

"Beautiful," she sighed and the sound went right through him. When he didn't reply she turned to him and smiled, looking away bashfully as the merest hint of blush crept into her cheeks. Spock blinked sleepily and said nothing, merely let his gaze travel slowly over her body and down her exceptionally long legs. "Come on," she urged, taking a few steps down the corridor to the next painting. Spock followed and as they came to a stop before the next portrait, stood ever so slightly closer than was permissible for a Vulcan. Nyota chewed her lip to suppress her smile as his shoulder pressed gently against her own and said nothing.

"I thought you were an art appreciator," she told him later as they sipped tea, tucked away in a discreet corner of a restaurant waiting for their food. They were seated at a low table, cross legged on the cushions while the gentle murmur of conversation filled the room.

"You were not mistaken," he informed her mildly, peering at her over the rim of his cup. "I have found there are forms of art more compelling than that which are displayed on gallery walls." Nyota licked her lips and set her own teacup down, chewing the inside of her cheek to hide her smile.

"Spock," she uttered bashfully, dropping her gaze but before she could reply the waiter arrived with their dinner. Spock shifted and reached for his chopsticks, holding them in his hands for a moment. When Nyota looked up and caught his eye, her brow furrowed in confusion at the look on his face. "What's wrong?" she queried mildly.

"These utensils are most perplexing," he informed her. Nyota swallowed.

"You've used chopsticks before Spock," she chided gently.

"I seem to have forgotten how," he lied.

And now he was lying. The only possible conclusion was that he was most definitely suffering from some kind of mental illness. "If you would be so kind as to instruct me," he implored politely. Nyota shook her head and pushed up onto her knees, shuffling closer across the cushions until she was beside him.

"Well you hold the bottom one like this," she said gently, reaching up and taking his hand between her own. Spock looked at her sideways as she leaned very, very close and adjusted the thin metal sticks in his fingers. His nostrils flared ever so slightly as he took shallow breaths, staring at her lips as her fingers performed another kind of kiss. "And then you take the top one between your fingers here..." she explained, her lips twitching as she stifled the urge to laugh.

"Thank you," Spock informed her neutrally as she sat back on her haunches to watch as he waggled the chopsticks up and down.

"You're welcome," she told him with equal serenity but instead of shuffling back around opposite him, she shifted and crossed her legs beneath her to sit beside him instead. Spock did not acknowledge how her knee pressed ever so slightly against his own and reached forward for his food.

Nyota was not bothered in the slightest when he did not hold her hand as they ambled down the street after dinner. He walked beside her with his hands clasped behind his back and she held her clutch purse demurely in front of her. Spock was, by Human standards, the consummate gentleman companion. He was able to converse on a variety of subjects – art, literature, history, science and he was nothing if not chivalrous, opening doors and pulling out chairs. She fervently wished to express her kindest regards to his mother for her fine work although she knew the chances of meeting her were very slim.

Spock for all his Human gentility was still, by Vulcan standards, an utter cad. She wondered idly if Vulcan girls would have found him desperately exciting, maybe for his illogical interests in poetry and drama or perhaps for the simmering passion which lingered just beneath the surface and which must be far more obvious to Vulcan eyes than to Human ones. To most Humans he appeared as aloof and logical as any other Vulcan but of course, Nyota was not most Humans. She was his lover.

She did not dwell on what the Vulcan designation might be. Spock was, in the Vulcan tradition, half married to a girl and would be expected at some point to return home to fulfil that obligation. He had made no secret of this situation but Nyota was sympathetically, tragically Human about the whole thing. She felt pity for him, to be forced into a loveless marriage like that and convinced herself that his Human half must feel equal despair. Spock did not talk of it often and she did not press him on the subject. She was too flawed and too Human and too romanced by the idea that she was the only one that had ever reached him, that touched that part of him. The Human part he kept locked away from everybody else.

Spock of course was not really Human. He wasn't Human when in piques of jealousy he would pin her against the wall and snarl into her ear all the ways he was going to dismember all the other men who vied for her attention. He wasn't Human when he put his hand on her face and went into her mind and made her literally sob with pleasure. He wasn't Human when he picked her up as though she were a ragdoll and carried her into the bedroom. It wasn't the Human part of him that made her beg and plead and promise that she'd never let another man touch her as long as she lived. No, Spock was not Human and Nyota had to admit that it was terribly, fearfully, unbearably arousing.


	2. Chapter 2

When they were in their first year, she and Gaila used to play a stupid game that they called 'Who would you rather?" They would play it as they sat on benches in the quad at the Academy, wasting five minutes between classes. The point was to decide who would you rather spend fifteen minutes locked in a closet with.

"Right," Gaila said, peeling an orange and glancing around. "Admiral Barnett or...Admiral Komack?" Nyota screwed her face up.

"Admiral Komack?" she asked, disgusted. "Are you serious?" Gaila snorted and stuffed a segment of fruit into her mouth.

"Okay, yeah, that's actually kinda gross huh?" she mumbled as she chewed. "Alright, alright," she conceded, looking up and down. She squinted and put her hand over her eyes to shield them from the afternoon sun as Nyota leaned across and helped herself to a piece of her orange. "Admiral Barnett or Commander Spock?" she said, gesturing with her chin to the lithe figure that was slinking along the path in the distance.

Nyota pursed her lips for a second. "Spock," she stated. "Easily." Gaila turned to her with a sceptical look.

"Really? The Vulcan?" she asked with surprise. Nyota shrugged.

"You're telling me you would rather make out with Admiral Barnett? He's practically old enough to be your father," she retorted. Gaila tilted her head to one side and considered this.

"Yeah but he's Human at least," she replied pointedly. "Everybody knows Vulcans only do it once every seven years. What would you do stuck in the closet for fifteen minutes? Discuss logic?"

Nyota huffed a breath of amusement. "Rather that than Admiral Barnett, Gaila," she told her. "And anyway, I don't believe that seven year thing."

"You know something you're not telling me?" Gaila teased. Nyota rolled her eyes.

"I mean, his mother is Human right? Are you seriously telling me she would have married his father knowing that's what she was getting?"

Gaila slurped loudly on a piece of orange. "Who knows? Maybe he used his Vulcan mind control on her," she quipped. Nyota curled her lip.

"Oh please that is a complete myth," she said disbelieving. Gaila's brows went up her forehead.

"So you say," she said. "Although, it is kind of hot right?" In the distance Spock hesitated outside a door, turning and glancing across the quad right at them. Gaila swallowed. "You don't think he heard us do you?" she asked nervously.

"Their hearing isn't that good," Nyota assured her.

It was years later that Nyota was messing around at a console in Spock's office, trying to overlay Vulcan ideographs onto a Federation Standard keyboard and failing. She jabbed at the controls and let out a huff when the interface jammed up.

"I believe there is a system error," Spock had intoned from his desk and Nyota turned to see him staring at his own console with a raised brow. She gave him a toothy grin and hunched her shoulders up.

"Soorry," she chirped contritely. Spock pushed up out of his chair.

"Do not apologize," he said, moving around the desk. "I have encountered this problem on numerous occasions. I have been intending to revise the programming for some time."

"Can you fix it?" she asked, spinning her chair and looking up at him.

"I can," he said. "If you will come with me I will show you the procedure so that you can remedy it yourself in future." Nyota shuffled out of the room after him. She followed him a short distance down the hall and hovered beside him as he opened a door in the wall.

"The server room," she observed as he slipped into the dark space, moving to stand in the doorway. Spock disappeared amid the mass of computer servers that lined the room. "If you will come with me I will show you how to correct the fault," his disembodied voice implored. Nyota stepped into the narrow space, slipping sideways between the towers that flickered with lights. It was very warm and a low hum buzzed in her ears from the computers on either side, that strange smell of overheating electronics filling the air.

"I've never been in here before," she commented as she found him around the corner sliding a tray out of the side of one of the towers. Spock looked her up and down and nodded slightly, the stubble on his face exaggerated by the lights from the circuit he had just opened. Nyota leant down as close as she could and peered intently at the inner workings of the computer, pushing away an invasive thought about watching him shave.

"Cut the power here," Spock instructed gently, pressing a small button on the edge of the tray. The lights went dim in that small section of casing and they were plunged once again into the half light from the multicolored diodes that flickered all around them. "This circuit here," he said pulling out a the flat crystal disk for a second before dropping it back in and turning the power back on. Nyota chuffed a breath of amusement.

"I like your style," she teased and he quirked a brow.

"It is an effective method," he said. "Although I believe it would be prudent to dedicate an afternoon to correcting the program itself." She nodded.

"That sounds interesting," she replied. "I don't know enough about programming as it is. We could do it now, if you don't mind me getting in the way?"

"I do not," he assured her, sliding the tray back into the tower. When she stood upright, he blinked as her hair brushed against the side of his face and froze for a second. A moment later as he stood also, he realised they were standing a little too close for propriety although he had to admit it was not exactly unpleasant. She licked her lips and his gaze flitted down to her mouth before dropping briefly to give her the once over. Her breath seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet. "I have completed the reset of the computer," he murmured, meeting her eyes once more. Nyota nodded mutely and stood frozen, trapped between him and the tower behind.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, her lashes fluttering as she chewed on her lip for a second before shuffling sideways towards the door, well aware that her bosom pressed intimately against him as she did so but unable to do anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Apart from the slightest peck on Gaila's cheek, Nyota had never so much as even kissed an alien never mind done what she was doing now. Spock was slouched back on the couch with his pants around his ankles, watching her with fierce eyes as she kissed her way down his chest. When she took him in her mouth, his fingers tangled in her hair and she gasped, her eyes falling closed as he bumped the back of her throat. Spock groaned and clenched his teeth, his fingers trailing across her cheek as he let her know in the most certain possible terms quite how much he was enjoying her attentions. Her eyes rolled back, her head swam at the pleasure that fizzled through her and a second later she emitted a startled cry as Spock's strong arms hoisted her up. Her hands scrabbled against the back of the couch and Spock let out a little oof of breath as her knee impacted with his stomach but then her mouth was on him again and he hummed in approval before burying his face between her legs and returning the favor with equal enthusiasm.

"He has a fiancee," she would say when people teased her about going to 'grade assessments' in Commander Spock's quarters, or if she was really pushed: "They only do it once every seven years."

She wasn't sure anybody believed her but then she knew people would say the same thing even if it wasn't likely that their work schedule might be interrupted by an impromptu examination of the uncannily similar physiologies of their respective species.

"I've never done this with a Vulcan," she'd gasped as he pulled his lips away from hers and nuzzled the side of her face.

"I understand the mechanics are..." Spock told her breathlessly as he hoisted her into his arms, swallowing with loud gulp. "Quite similar."

Nyota nodded and held on tight as he carried her further into his quarters. She'd spent a long time pacing in the lobby downstairs, wringing her hands and trying to summon up the courage to knock on his door. Spock entered through the front door to find her loitering in by the elevator and when he met her nervous gaze, explained that he had himself just come from her quarters and that rather sealed the deal, so to speak.

They had just returned from a training exercise on Utopia Planitia. Nyota had never really fancied Mars very much but now that she was here she was actually beginning to quite like it. Their group was wandering around one of the vast arboretums, a verdant green space under an enormous, cavernous dome. It was night time and the stars were visible in the sky above the colony, the Earth shimmering in the distance. It was actually quite romantic she mused, gazing through the thick plate glass at the edge of the habitat across the dusty plains beyond. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she turned to see the baby face of Pavel Chekov smiling at her, a single flower in his hand. It was impossible not to love Pavel Chekov. He was so sweet and dorky and even though everybody teased him for his speech impediment he didn't seem to mind very much if it made the girls smile.

"A pretty flower for a pretty girl," he crooned, half joking half serious. Nyota's nose twitched as she grinned at his goofy face.

"You have been asked not to damage the angiosperms," Spock had uttered haughtily, plucking the offending bloom from his outstretched fingers with a look of disapproval.

Chekov paled and Nyota averted her eyes. "I apologize sir," he had said contritely, idly fiddling with the tricorder that was slung across his shoulders. Spock looked down his nose at him before stepping between them and starting towards the rest of the group.

"Wehement wulcans are wery wexatious," he joked as Spock stalked away from them and Nyota snickered in spite of herself. At the foot of the slope Spock turned ever so slightly and narrowed his eyes at them and Nyota chewed her lip to stifle her amusement.

"Vulcan ears," she mouthed to Pavel, who winced and pulled a funny face, turning to look in the opposite direction as he tried not to laugh.

Later she sat at a table with the other cadets, pushing a piece of hydroponic tomato around on her plate and only half listening to the conversation. Her mind wandered and she chanced a glance across the room to where Spock sat stony faced at a table with the other training officers. He turned his head to look right at her and she flushed, averting her eyes and swallowing around the lump in her throat. She reached for her cup and took a slow drink, worrying the rim with her teeth for a second. It was just a fleeting glance, she told herself. No need to ascribe any meaning to a such a trifling incident – she was sure he wouldn't.

Nyota wasn't sure then why she was unsurprised when he found her later in that same spot overlooking the Martian planes, gazing wistfully at the Earth in the distance. She was leaning back on her hands, one leg bent at the knee so that her foot was pressed against the trunk of a tree. As he approached, she shifted and dropped her foot back to the floor.

"Am I missing?" she queried. Spock shook his head gently.

"This evening's activities are not compulsory," he murmured, coming to a stop beside her and turning to look at the view. "A fact for which I am grateful."

Nyota chuckled and turned her gaze back to the odd conglomeration of domes that covered the buildings like rusty snowglobes in the middle of the rugged Martian desert.

"I didn't expect to like it so much," she told him. Spock tilted his head to one side.

"Explain," he replied passively. Nyota chewed her lip for a second.

"I never really liked the idea of living in habitat," she said eventually. "Not being able to go outside, to feel the wind on your face."

Spock considered this for a moment. "But now that you are here your opinion has altered?"

Her lips quirked. "Well I suppose, I didn't expect it to be as...well, as atmospheric as it is." Spock looked at her askance.

"Define atmospheric?" he queried. Nyota swallowed and cleared her throat with a little cough.

"Well, you might say..." Nyota hesitated for a second and searched her mind for a less incriminating synonym for romantic. "Idyllic," she told him, averting her eyes. Spock's brow went up again.

"You might say," he clarified. "I would not."

"Oh, sorry, of course," she chuffed, feeling a little awkward. Spock shifted a little on the uneven ground.

"I do not understand why you apologize," he mused, turning his head slowly as he took in the panorama of the colony beyond.

"Well, I just...forget that you don't see things quite the same way as I do" she said mildly. Spock tilted his head to one side.

"I am unaccustomed to expressing such thoughts," he said quietly. "But please do not be mistaken into thinking I do not appreciate things for what they are." Nyota blinked and looked at his profile intently.

"Explain," she chirped gently, crossing her arms over her chest and turning towards him, one shoulder leaning against the tree beside her. Spock dropped his eyes to the ground.

"I am able to appreciate a flower but it does not mean I have a desire to pick it," he told her and she nodded imperceptibly.

"Hmmm," she added in understanding.

"Likewise because I do not give it you it does not mean that I do not think that you are beautiful." He turned and met her eyes and she felt her heart leap into her mouth. She dropped her gaze bashfully and let her hands fall to her sides.

"Spock," she breathed, her eyes darting from side to side.

"Is it so wrong of me to tell you?" he murmured, turning back to the view of the colony before them.

"I...I've wanted to hear you say it," Nyota admitted very quietly. Spock blinked very slowly.

"I should not say it," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I should not...feel." Nyota opened her mouth to speak but couldn't seem to form any words. Ever so slowly Spock reached up and ran his palm over her hair in the merest ghost of a touch. "There can be nothing between us," he told her, his voice very low.

Nyota clenched her jaw and pressed her lips together, staring at the floor as she nodded. "I know."

"I am sorry," he murmured and she looked up into his impossibly wide dark eyes. Before she could really do or say anything else, the sounds of voices drifted over the brow as a groups cadets approached from a distance. Nyota licked her lips and glanced around nervously.

"Let's not speak of it again," she uttered hurriedly and turning on her heel, slipped down the slope and scurried away.

Back on his couch, Spock's leg twitched and his foot connected with a PADD that she'd left on the armrest when they'd started kissing. He groaned and massaged the round swell of her backside, brushing his thumbs along the crease of her ass and making her gasp. He popped out of her mouth with a wet smack and her eyes fell closed, the hard length of him brushing against her cheek. Nyota pressed a kiss at the base of his erection and shuddered at the obscene sound that was emanating from between her legs. She could not recall ever feeling so turned on by anyone, he was so unbearably sexy and the entire situation was so unbelievably naughty.

When he came in her mouth she didn't pull away and the resulting growl of pleasure that rumbled from behind her did unnaturally pleasurable things to her body so that slightest touch of his tongue sent her out of her mind. His fingers slipped inside of her as her muscles clenched and twitched and she could swear she could feel her pulse throbbing deep inside her body. Nyota sagged boneless on top of him, panting hard and moments later he shifted and crawled on top of her.

"Seven years my ass," she mumbled as his lips kissed up her back towards her neck, his erection dragging torturously across the backs of her thighs. Spock brushed her hair back and pressed his face into the crook of her shoulder.

"Did you say something?" he queried breathlessly as his hand stroked down her back to stroke between her legs, the tip of his finger brushing against the puckered entrance to her ass as he went. Nyota turned her face into the cushions and groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Nyota had done her best to avoid Spock on the way back from Mars with varying degrees of success. It was hard to avoid someone sitting two seats away on a shuttle. She dropped her eyes and fiddled intently with the fastening on her safety harness when he entered the cabin, focussing a little too intently on buckling herself in for the short journey home. She felt utterly childish but she wasn't quite sure what else to do, she was certain that she could not bear to have him look at her with those sad brown eyes. She might have said at one time that he wasn't capable of feeling sorry for her but she knew different now and that was even worse than rejection. It was the Vulcan equivalent of saying 'It's not you, it's me' or worse, 'I like you but not enough to take a chance." It...hurt. She stared ahead at the back of the seat in front of her and pretended not to notice the surreptitious glances he sent her way for the duration of the flight.

When he was unfailingly chivalrous as the cadets disembarked the shuttle in San Francisco Nyota found herself becoming unconscionably irritated with him. How dare he be so calm and serene and so damned gentlemanly about the whole affair. It's not that she wanted him to be like a sulking spiteful schoolboy about the whole thing but that...well in a way that would be less disconcerting because at least then she'd know where she stood. She sat for a long time on her bed, stewing about the injustice of arranged marriages and Starfleet regulations and flushing with shame at the prospect that in a day or so she would have to march into the office and sit down next to him and pretend like nothing had happened.

"Oh god," she groaned, burying her face in her hands for a minute before standing abruptly and grabbing her coat on the way out of the door.

It was evening in San Francisco but it was very mild which was a good thing. Nyota spent a long time pacing up and down the long covered walkway that ran the length of the building where his quarters were located. She'd get to the front door and then lose faith, spinning on her heel and walking all the way back up the path before chastising herself for being so stupid and walking all the way back down again. She wasn't sure how long she had been hovering in the lobby when Spock entered and they stood frozen for a moment as their eyes met. She briefly considered what possible excuse she might have for being here but then thought better of feeding him a lie, he had an uncanny knack for seeing through such deception and as a Vulcan he wouldn't approve at all. She cleared her throat as he approached.

"Good evening," he said quietly. Nyota shifted from foot to foot.

"Hi," she said a little sharply. Spock tilted his head to one side and licked his lips.

"This is...unexpected," he said after a moment. Nyota pressed her lips together and then took a step closer.

"I was...ah, coming to see you," she explained hurriedly. "I...I think we should talk."

"Interesting," he murmured, looking over her shoulder with a faraway look. "I have myself just come from your quarters." Nyota paled.

"Oh," she chirped, her voice a high pitched squeak. Spock swallowed and glanced around a trifle nervously.

"Our last...conversation...was...unsatisfactory," he explained and she nodded. Nyota opened her mouth to speak but then two not old but older than her men in officer's uniforms came bustling through the doors from the stairs, speaking in loud voices. Nyota dropped her gaze to the floor and Spock stared at the ceiling, his hands clasped behind his back as he rolled on the balls of his feet.

"Perhaps we ought to go somewhere a little more private," Nyota said very quietly. Spock looked at her with a wide eyed gaze before nodding and stepping forward without speaking to call the elevator. They stood side by side in the car in silence, avoiding looking at each other and Nyota fiddled with her manicure while Spock pretended not to watch. When the elevator came to a halt he glanced at her briefly before stepping out into the hall and slowly, cautiously they walked towards his door. As he punched in the access code at his door, Nyota glanced surreptitiously up and down the hall and when it opened they stood staring at the dark room beyond with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.

Nyota entered first and when she turned to see Spock blocking the only door she felt an unmistakeable sense of finality. There was no denying that there was definitely something between them, even if there really shouldn't be.

"I am promised to another," Spock had said as he stepped a little closer. Nyota nodded and stared at his chest, her mouth going dry.

"You're not married yet," she croaked. Spock licked his lips.

"I am your commanding officer and your teacher," he added, his voice wavering. Nyota chewed her lip.

"I haven't got a comeback for that," she admitted with a dejected sigh. Spock nodded, standing very close now.

"This situation is...complicated," he said and when she looked up his brow was furrowed with displeasure.

"We haven't done anything wrong," she told him, not meeting his eyes. "I mean, it's not a crime to have feelings." Spock looked at her strangely for a second before turning his head away.

"Not a crime, no," he agreed and Nyota sighed a little.

"I...I don't pretend to really understand what this must be like for you," she said after a moment.

Spock's eyes darted from side to side. "It is...unsettling," he explained in a low, breathy voice that sent shivers down her spine.

"I...I know this must be...difficult for you," she said gently, stepping just a little bit closer. "But I think, I mean...some things just are, even if they don't seem very logical."

Cautiously and with a good measure of courage, she reached up and slowly ran her hand down his arm. Spock turned his face towards her and slowly, tenderly raised his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Timidly she shuffled a little bit closer and wrapped her arms around him. She hid her face in his chest and closed her eyes, her heart thumping in her chest and her heart in her mouth but then a second later his arms went around her and he held her close. She exhaled in relief and nuzzled her cheek against him and Spock let out a sigh that was to her the sweetest sound she'd ever heard. When she raised her chin he had his eyes closed, his breath coming in short little pants and so she reached up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. He leaned towards her and pressed his lips back and she wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him more intently.

They hadn't done anything wrong, she reminded herself. It was just a little kiss and a cuddle and oh my he was very good at this, she mused as the kiss grew more intense. His hands wandered, stroking up and down her back and she hung on for dear life as they staggered back a step. Spock wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling.

"I've never done this with a Vulcan," she'd gasped as he pulled his lips away from hers and nuzzled the side of her face.

"I understand the mechanics are..." Spock told her breathlessly as he hoisted her into his arms, swallowing with loud gulp. "Quite similar."

"Uh huh," she squeaked, holding on tight and kissing him again as he carried her towards the bedroom, setting her down gently on the edge of the bed so that she was kneeling and he was standing in front of her. Her hands came up and clasped the sides of his face and they kissed and kissed and kissed and when they finally broke apart, he pressed his forehead against hers.

"You are trembling," he observed gently and she swallowed hard.

"I...I'm nervous," she admitted. Spock blinked slowly and leant his face into her hand.

"We do not have to do anything that you do not wish," he murmured and she kissed him again.

"I want to, I want to," she breathed against his mouth.

"If it is any comfort to you," he explained hoarsely. "I am likewise inexperienced in this regard." Nyota ran her stroked her thumbs across the tips of his adorably pointy ears and pressed her teeth into her lower lip as his words sunk in. He'd never done this with a Human, she thought as she stroked down his arms and caught his hand. She shifted and lay back across the bed, tugging his hand and pulling him with her and as he shuffled nervously closer to lie on top of her she realised that in all likelihood, he'd never done this with anyone.

Her heart swelled up in her chest and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. Spock seemed to be particularly enjoying kissing and she was not going to argue. They lay entwined on the bed for a long time, the kisses growing hungrier and hungrier, hands roaming but then firm touches would morph back to tender caresses and lips would grow soft again. She opened her legs and cradled him against her hips and he groaned, instinctively grinding against her and it was the hottest thing she'd ever experienced. She would have been perfectly content at that moment to stay there kissing his face off and dry humping through their clothes but then his hand slipped down across her thigh, his fingers brushing up across her skin to dip beneath the hem of her skirt as he hooked her leg over his hip and ground more purposefully against her. Maybe she wouldn't be quite as content as all that.

Nyota's head dropped back against the pillow and his lips fastened to the long column of her neck, the flat of his tongue running up over her throat until his lips met her jaw. She groaned as he nipped at her jawbone and scraped her nails down the back of his neck. Spock let out a little grunting, crying sound and shifted, pressing his forehead against her cheek and running his hand down her body to stroke her breasts through her sweater. Nyota hummed and arched her back into his touch for a second before pushing against him. Spock rolled onto his back and she scrabbled across him to straddle his hips. He stroked his hands down the sides of her body as she lifted her arms and wriggled out of her sweater, his eyes going wide at the sight of her underwear. His hands immediately covered her breasts and she smiled at him through her lashes, pushing up on her knees as she started to divest herself of her skirt. As she squirmed and shifted from one knee to the other to kick the offending material away, Spock sat up and pressed his face into the valley between her breasts, his big hands stroking across her back in circles as he placed hot open mouth kisses against her chest. Nyota arched her back into his touch and fiddled with the hem of his shirt, yanking it up out of his pants and sighing at the sight of his mussed up hair when she finally pulled it over his head. She leaned her cheek against the top of his head and stroked her fingernails up and down his neck and over his scalp as his fingers shoved the fabric of her bra aside and his hot wet tongue found her nipple. When he grunted in disapproval at the offending item of clothing, she pulled back a way and without even bothering to unhook it, pulled it up over her head and threw it to one side. Spock hummed in assent and massaged her back with firm strokes, his fingers doing funny things to her skin.

After a few minutes and when his attentions became a little more toothy than she was used to, Nyota gently pulled his head away. Spock gave her a stern look of disapproval but when she smiled he let her push him down onto his back. His hands drifted lower, stroking over her hips and disappearing beneath the fabric of her underwear to massage the soft cheeks of her ass. She groaned and twisted her hips in torturous circles over the unmistakeable lump in his pants. Similar mechanics indeed, she mused as she arched her back and leant across him, twisting her body from side to side so that the hard points of her nipples brushed against his chest. Spock growled and her mouth fell open in surprise at the jolt of arousal that coursed through her body to spark hotly between her legs. As she peered down at him, his face was utterly feral and wild, his skin flushed green and her heart fluttered at the sight of him. The hands in her underwear grew curious and she gasped as one finger trailed an exploratory path along the crease of her ass to brush against the growing wetness between her legs. Spock's eyes narrowed and he clasped the back of her neck, holding her tight and trapping her against his hard body as his fingers went further. When he pressed the tip of one between the soft folds of her center she jerked and let out a pathetic sounding whimper. The hand at her neck released its grip to slide down between them and cup between her legs and her eyes fell closed as his hand moved into her underwear.

When she let out a sharp cry as his knuckled brushed against her clit, Spock's lips turned up at the corners in a sneering kind of smile. It was unbearably arousing, the sight of him riled up like an angry cat and when his tongue ran up the side of her face she shuddered uncontrollably. When his lips fastened on her ear, she bore down against his hand and they both groaned as his finger slipped deep inside of her.

"Yesss," he hissed in her ear, the guttural sound of Vulcan making her grimace in pleasure and reminding her in no uncertain terms that the gorgeous writhing creature beneath her was not entirely Human. She could not have described how she felt, it was primal and animal and she ground her hips furiously against his hand, his finger pressing into her in a way she didn't even know could feel so good. The sounds emanating from between her legs were so loud and obscene it made her eyes roll back in her head and Spock jerked his hips upwards towards her. Swallowing hard Nyota took a deep breath and pushed up on her hands, his finger slipping out of her with a wet smack. Spock reached for her again so she distracted him with a sloppy kiss instead, running her tongue over his face and making him growl again.

Oh that sound, she thought, her head swimming as she began to kiss her way down his chest, dragging her nails as she went and shuddering at the long green lines that sprang up in their wake. She scraped her teeth over his nipple and he twitched, gasping through clenched teeth as her mouth moved lower and lower towards the place where her hand was tracing the shape of his erection through his pants with firm strokes. Spock buried his fingers in her hair as she sat up a little way and fumbled with the fastening on his pants, tugging the fabric down. Spock obligingly bent his knees and kicked them away, the palms of her hands caressing over and over along the long, thick outline of where his cock lay trapped beneath his shorts. She chewed her lip and reached down to scrape her nails across the insides of his thighs, feeling a flutter of pleasure as he twitched beneath her touch. She licked her lips and cupped the softer round bulge that hung down between his legs, swallowing hard as she hesitated for just a moment. Spock smacked his lips and watched her with dark eyes as she considered what to do next. She was nervous, curious, maybe just a tiny bit afraid of what she was going to find - she'd not exactly encountered many of these before, even the plain old Human variety. Taking a deep breath, she hooked her fingers under the elastic of his underwear and peeled them down, her mouthing forming an O as she did so. Spock lifted his hips and wriggled out of the black scrap and when her fingers clasped the hard length of him as it sprang free from the confines of his shorts, he let out a choked breath.

"Nyota," he stuttered and met her eyes to find her gazing at him with a tender expression.

"Oh, Spock," she murmured very quietly, a gentle smile spreading across her face. He whimpered as she ran her fingernails lightly across the underside of his erection from root to tip and he trembled. She leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth as she slowly began to stroke up and down with her hand. Slowly, she kissed her way back down his body and when her lips pressed a hot kiss at the base of his cock his hips jerked up of their own volition. His head spun as the flat of her tongue trailed up his length in one long, slow lick before she took him in her mouth. It was indescribable, the pleasure he felt, the surging emotions as she bobbed her head and swirled her tongue. His whole body was aflame, his blood burning in his veins and instinctively he reached for her, his fingers trailing across her face. She must know, he must share with her, join with her. Nyota hummed around him, leaning her cheek into his touch and when his fingers splayed across her cheek her eyes flew open as they pressed suddenly, forcefully against the bones in her face.

She jerked suddenly, her spine arching and her whole body going rigid at the unexpected bolt of sensation that surged through her. She cried out and closed her eyes tightly, her head pounding and she clutched her hands to face. Spock gasped and sat upright, rolling her onto her side as she coiled up like a bug and away from him, a piercing cry issuing from her lips.

"Nyota!" he cried, leaning across her, his whole body trembling as he reached for her. She was shaking uncontrollably and was compliant in his arms as he rolled her onto her back and gently pulled her arms away from her body. "Nyota, Nyota," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. She clung to him tightly, confused, afraid, clutching onto him desperately.

"Spock," she uttered. "Wuh...what?" she breathed, a tear escaping her eye. He nuzzled her face.

"I...I...don't be afraid," he told her gently. "My mind...the emotions within me were so strong my mind...reached for yours. I could not help myself." She looked into his eyes, searching his face for answers and her mouth opened by she could not get the words out.

"So it's true," she murmured, somewhat dazed and very confused. Spock leaned his forehead against hers.

"Please don't be afraid, I...will not hurt you," he whispered and she rubbed her face against his, overcome with longing to be near him.

"Spock," she gasped, stroking her hands up and down his back. He blinked lazily and looked at her through his lashes with such tenderness her heart felt like it was going to burst right out of her chest.

"Let me show you," he implored, his fingers gently stroking over her face. "Let me show you."

Nyota licked her lips and let her eyes fall closed, taking a deep breath as his fingers pressed more firmly against her. His voice was low as he began to murmur softly in Vulcan and she took a deep gasping breath, a strange sense of unreality setting in at a sensation that was at once both totally alien and yet astoundingly familiar as his consciousness seeped into hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Nyota blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked up to see Spock's gentle expression across the circuit board, the familiar twinkle in his eye. Her gaze flicked up and down his stubbly face and she took a moment to take in her surroundings.

"Wha...?" she breathed, shaking her head a little. Spock's lips turned up at the corners in a hint of a smile.

"Do you remember?" he asked softly and she drew her chin back a little.

"You cut the power here," she said, reaching forward and tapping the button. Spock nodded as the lights went off. "This one," Nyota explained, plucking a flat crystal disk out of the tray before dropping it back in again. Spock's lips twitched as he reached for the power and the lights came back on. Nyota's brow furrowed for a second and then she smiled at him.

Spock slid the tray back into the side of the tower and as he turned his head their cheeks pressed together. Nyota chuckled as he nudged her with his nose before they rose slowly to their feet. She peered up at him, the quiet hum of the computers around them and the twinkling of the diodes reflecting in his eyes.

"We have completed the reset of the computer," he said wistfully and she nodded, looking at him with hooded eyes.

"Uh huh," she murmured but this time instead of turning away from him, she leaned a little closer and tilted her head back as he reached for her with his lips. Nyota clutched at his shoulders and shifted a little as he slid closer, pressing her back against the towers behind and kissing her languorously. She hummed in appreciation and stroked her hands up his neck and into his hair, taking great pleasure is trashing his otherwise utterly symmetrical hairstyle. After a while Spock pulled back, nuzzling her nose with his and she smiled again. "Hmmm," she mumbled against his lips. Spock looked at her intently and when she tilted her head to one side questioningly, Spock's eyes sparkled.

Nyota gasped at the hard jolt that went through her body, blinking up at the ceiling in his quarters. They were back in his bedroom but something was not quite right. Her mouth fell open at the delicious feeling that was spreading through her body and she sighed. Peering down she saw herself, her lip pressed between her teeth as her hand gently stroked over the throbbing green mass between her legs...his legs. This was his memory but before she could consider it any further she was speaking.

"Oh Spock," she cooed with a coy smile and the sound went right through her. Nyota gasped and clutched the sheets in her fists as her own mouth began to press hot kisses against her aching flesh – his aching flesh and oh god, it was such a mindfuck that her head swam. She felt undeniable arousal, the likes of which she had never experienced and exaggerated with every touch and every caress from her own mouth at work below. She blinked and as she watched herself she felt such a surge of tenderness and affection and... something else which she recognised but dare not name. She tried to speak but the words caught in her throat, the pleasure she felt completely overwhelming all sense. Of its own volition her hand – his hand connected with the side of her face and it felt like a sun had gone nova behind her eyes. She screwed them tightly shut, gasping for breath as her hands scrabbled trying to get ahold of something, anything and when her hands connected with something warm and firm, her eyes flew open and she met Spock's sleepy gaze hovering just inches above her face.

"Oh my god," she stammered, trying to catch her breath. Spock blinked and his lips quirked slightly.

"Nyota," he murmured, the tenderness in his voice unmistakable. She clung to him for dear life and he nuzzled her face with his own, humming gently in her ear. His lips pressed gently against her cheek for a moment and she sighed, stroking her hands up and down his back. He peppered her face with kisses and moved slowly down her neck. He kissed every single inch of her body, paying special attention to her hands, slowly sucking each finger into his mouth in turn before pressing a kiss into her palm. He hovered over her breasts and she sighed, her eyes drifting closed as she floated blissfully in an almost dreamlike stupor. Playfully, he nuzzled the flat of her belly with his nose as his fingers dragged her underwear down over her hips. She shifted her feet and sighed as his fingers stroked down her legs as he divested her of them altogether. He stroked back up her legs with his palms, massaging slowly as he moved gradually back up her body.

When he placed an open mouth kiss between her thighs she stuttered and spread her legs wider to give him room. She peered down to see his dark eyes looking at her, two bottomless black pools swirling with desire as his nose pressed deeper into the hidden recesses of her center. He moaned and the sound seemed to reverberate along her entire body, his fingers stroking upwards and clasping her breast briefly before he shifted on the bed. He pressed his face back between her legs while his hand reached up for her face again and this time she turned her face towards his touch, feeling that same strange pull. Slowly, timidly his mouth began to explore the intricacies of her sex, fingers probing and pushing as his tongue danced agonizingly over her clit. She opened her mouth to groan but he beat her to it, his hot breath seeming to vibrate through her body and making her head swim. Her face felt almost numb, as though his hand wasn't there at all and Nyota trembled, her whole body quivering with a feeling the likes of which she'd never experienced before – a feeling she didn't know she could experience. It seemed to go on and on forever and at the same time it felt like no time at all before she was choking and wheezing, her back arching as her whole body stiffened. Spock's mouth moved with hungry, frenzied touches, a terrifying animal growl vibrating out of him and into her, bubbling up through her body and out of her own mouth as sobbing and crying and gasping for breath, she came.

An interminable time later when she opened her eyes, she found Spock hovering above her, his hands flat on the mattress on either side of her body. His eyes were dark and searching, his stare unnerving in its intensity. His chest was heaving with short, shallow breaths, his whole body tense with unspent energy and when she shifted ever so slightly, her breath hitched as she felt the hot, hard length of him brush against her thigh. He blinked at her and even though they were no longer joined, she didn't need to be inside his head to know what he wanted.

She exhaled slowly, letting her eyes fall closed for a long moment and when she opened them again she reached up to stroke her hand across his cheek. He pressed his face into her touch and she smiled, pressing her teeth into her bottom lip as her hand stroked down his neck, over his shoulder and across his bicep. Her lashes fluttered and she shifted beneath him, looking him right in the eye as she bent her knees so that she could wrap her legs around him. Spock huffed a heavy breath through his nose, his jaw clenched as the blunt head of his erection pressed against her. Nyota stroked her fingers through his hair and wriggled her hips in encouragement as slowly, cautiously he moved a little closer. She sighed in pleasure as his cock slipped up and down between the soft folds between her legs, bumping her still singing clitoris as he did so. Inside, her body ached, it throbbed, her muscles clenching in anticipation. Nyota couldn't bear it, she had never wanted anything or anyone quite as much as she wanted him at that moment and she was sure if she didn't have him inside her soon she was going to die.

"Spock," she whimpered in a pathetic, needy voice and he grunted, his lip twitching as he rocked his hips back and forth and when she reached down his back to scratch her fingernails from the crease of his ass outwards he growled and gave in, sliding forward and into her.

She opened her mouth, a tiny, stuttering sob falling from her throat as his hard length slipped inside of her. It was overwhelming, the feeling of being filled by him and her whole body shook. She dug her nails into him as though she might fall if she let go and he ground his teeth, his eyes screwing up as he fought against the instinct to just rut wildly against her but when she whimpered the sound seemed to overwhelm what little control he had and he thrust deeply. Nyota let out a little cry and clung on tighter and Spock buried his face in her neck. Shaking, he panted hot, damp breaths against her skin and she twisted her hips a little, pressing closer still. When he moved again they both groaned as he slid back almost completely out of her before sliding back in and overcome by a long suppressed animal instinct, he let his tongue drag wetly up across her cheek. He growled and gripped her ear in his teeth, fighting the urge to bite down hard and permanently mark her. He felt totally overwhelmed with sensation, with emotion and it terrified him.

Heaving a deep, ragged breath he pushed up on his hand and shifted his grip, holding her thigh tightly and pressing into her. Nyota's whole body seemed to rear up off the bed and she gasped again, her hands flailing wildly as she tried to grab onto him. When her nails dug hard into his chest he growled again and grabbed at her shoulder, his palm sliding around her throat in a tight grip. Nyota's eyes went wide, her gaze never leaving his face and Spock's eyes screwed up at the conflict that raged within him. His mind screamed out to be joined with hers again and he hunched forward, pressing his chest close against hers as the hand at her throat turned her head abruptly, exposing her cheek to his touch. Relinquishing his grip on her thigh, his hand came up to press against her cheekbone and she whimpered again. Spock felt his fear subside, his grip slackening as he felt her mind once more and when he began to roll his hips, she mewled at the pleasure of it. Spock let his eyes fall closed and began to move with greater ease and Nyota tried to spread her legs ever wider in encouragement. She was squirming beneath him, writhing with desire and need and pleasure and he never wanted it to end but the feel of her body around him coupled with the chaotic fluttering of her heartbeat against his chest spurred him on. He began to move more purposefully and she hissed through her teeth, her nails pressing into his skin hard enough to hurt. He snarled with pleasure and drove into her harder. The bed rattled beneath them, the sheets bunching up around her as her whole body was shoved a way across the mattress and she held on ever tighter.

The sound of blood roared in his ears, his veins felt like they were pumping pure flame around his body and through their connection he could feel her pleasure and then his own again, mirrored back and multiplied. Then her pleasure again only amplified further still and then his own and hers and she and him and them together and it was too much and not enough, never enough. Spock felt like he couldn't breathe and his whole body arched, taut like a bowstring for a moment before his arms went limp and he collapsed across her, gasping for air and shaking uncontrollably.

Nyota didn't know how long they stayed like that. She didn't really know much of anything at that moment, only that he was a lot heavier than she expected and that it was hard to breathe with him pressing down on her like that but somehow in spite of it, she couldn't be bothered to move or to speak or even breathe. She just...didn't care.

After a while, Spock seemed to come back to himself and he shifted, pushing up onto his knees. Nyota peered at him through her lashes and reached for him. Spock stroked his fingers across her face very slowly and she pressed her lips into his palm as he went, sucking his fingers into her mouth when they snagged gently on her lip. Spock's expression was stricken, like he was in pain or about to burst into tears but he did neither and she let out and oof of surprise as he flipped her over onto her front. She gasped, half in pleasure and half in pain as his teeth sunk into her shoulder – not so hard as to really hurt but enough to sting and leave a mark. The feeling did odd things to her body and she flushed with shame at the renewed arousal that seemed to wind through her body, coiling in her belly like a serpent. Spock stroked down her back with firm strokes that felt blissfully soothing to her aching muscles, following with his lips and teeth as he left a trail of bites down her back and across her ass. Nyota couldn't help the heady moan of pleasure that issued from her throat as his tongue dragged wetly along the crease where her ass met her thigh, only to gasp equally wantonly as he followed it with another bite. Spock continued down her thighs and when his hands began to work their way back up she shuddered at the realization that he was already hard again. She was compliant in his arms as he manoeuvred her to his liking, hoisting her up so that her backside was in the air and her sex wantonly exposed to his view. She groaned and twisted her hips as his finger probed between her legs, tracing the wet evidence of his orgasm as it trailed down her thigh.

She felt so utterly wanton, so completely debauched that she shut her eyes against the storm of emotions that raged inside of her, uncertain if they were her feelings or his but whoever they belonged to she didn't care. She hadn't expected this, she didn't know she would feel so utterly exposed, so totally consumed by him but when he shifted behind her to press his hardness inside her once again she only knew that she wanted him more than she had ever wanted anyone in her life. He hummed in pleasure and his knees shifted between her legs, his chest pressing against her back as his hands came to rest on either side of her head. When she felt his nose gently nuzzling the side of her face she turned towards him.

"Nyota-kam," he mumbled and as she met his eyes, the maelstrom of emotion inside her ceased suddenly to be replaced by one thought and one thought only.

"Spock."


	6. Chapter 6

The first time Spock feels a very strong emotion around Nyota comes one afternoon in the fall. She had been his assistant for only a couple of weeks but she has been his student for far longer so they were well enough acquainted for her to be at ease with him. Of course they were still Commander and Lieutenant to one another – there are very few people that call him Spock although one or two have started to address him as Mr Spock and he does not find it disagreeable. The Lieutenant knows his full name, is in fact one of the very few Humans he has ever met that comes anywhere close to pronouncing it correctly and he thinks later maybe that is what gave her the edge over the other candidates who applied for the post.

They were working in silence in his office, the Lieutenant being naturally disinclined to making chatter despite being a communications specialist and a female. Yes, Spock had definitely noticed – it was difficult not to. He was not oblivious to the eyes of other men on her as she passed down the hall nor the frequent solicitations they made. The Lieutenant did not seem particularly interested although he did note that she had one or two closer male companions even if he refused to speculate on the nature of their relationship to her. Such thinking was illogical and none of his business besides.

Spock was responding to his messages as the Lieutenant sat a console near his window and went through first year assessments. It wasn't very stimulating work but it was the type of work one assigned to one's assistant and his was nothing if not obliging. Perhaps a Human might not have heard it but Spock's ears were not Human and when her stomach rumbled it seemed to him extraordinarily loud. Nyota didn't even look up from her station and carried on working. Spock was content to ignore the sound – she would seek sustenance in her own good time but when some considerable time passed he felt compelled to interject.

"Lieutenant if you wish to pause for lunch you may do so," he said politely and she hunched forward a little, suppressing a giggle.

"Can you hear my stomach going crazy?" she asked, turning her head towards him with a smile. "I thought if I drank some water it might shut up." Spock quirked a brow.

"The tried and tested method is to feed your stomach something other than water," he replied and she laughed again.

"Sorry, I forget your hearing is sensitive, it must irritating," she said swivelling in her chair to face him.

"Not in the least, Lieutenant," he told her smoothly. "I merely wished to encourage you to find sustenance if you require it." She nodded.

"I just...wanted to finish grading these," she explained. "They're so tedious I was keeping lunch as my motivation. You know, like a reward for getting through them."

"Indeed," Spock said in understanding. "How many are still remaining?" She pursed her lips.

"Maybe a dozen..." she said, scrolling through the file. "Fourteen," she finished definitively. Spock considered this.

"I was intending to eat lunch myself very shortly," he said after a minute. "If you wish I can procure something for you also." Nyota tilted her head to one side.

"To eat here in the office?" she queried and Spock quirked a brow.

"I frequently do," he informed her and she grinned.

"Um, sure okay," she said and he nodded, pushing his chair away from his desk.

"Is something amusing?" he asked as he approached the door. Nyota shook her head.

"No, no, you just didn't strike me as the type to eat at your desk," she explained and he gave a slight bow of understanding.

"I trust I have your confidence in this most shameful of secrets," he said and was rewarded with a full on belly laugh.

"I promise," she replied with a grin.

And so Spock had gone to forage for food. He placed the items he had procured on the desk and hoped she was not displeased with his selections, he was certain he covered most of the food groups. She waggled her brows at him as she plucked a pot of quinoa from the table, something he'd seen his mother do many times when she'd be encouraging him to engage in some illicit activity. They might sit in the cave under the house where they grew hydroponic vegetables, hidden away so his father wouldn't see them eating sugar laden Earth candies that were lacking in nutrition but extremely pleasing nonetheless or like when they were alone in the kitchen, scratching I-Chaya's belly and smiling with joy because of it. That seemed like a very long time ago but he appreciated the Lieutenant's response all the same.

Spock did not sit behind his desk to eat, that was a little too uncouth even for him. He pulled a console table out from under the window and wheeled his chair round beside it so that they could eat with some semblance of civility instead of just stuffing the food down their throats over their consoles. Nyota gave him a slight smile and pressed her hands together before they started to eat.

"Itadakimasu," she chirped with a little bow and he raised his brow.

"Are there any Terran languages that you do not speak?" he queried, removing the lid from his salad.

"Many," she replied.

They ate in relative silence and Spock did not even consider whether or not it might be comfortable for her. She didn't seem uncomfortable either but then she rarely did. She was for a Human a very considered, measured person although he suspected that she hid a temper beneath the courtesy. When she couldn't break the seal on her water, she clenched her jaw and let out a sharp huff through her nose. Spock's eyes fell to the delicate bones in her wrist as she tried again unsuccessfully to open it, holding back for a minute or two before offering his assistance. Nyota's eyes darted from side to side as he removed the lid and handed it back to her. Pride as well as a temper, Spock mused. When he reached for an orange she looked at him oddly and he responded with the brow again.

"Isn't it considered bad manners on Vulcan to eat with your hands?" she asked mildly, reaching for the other orange and beginning to peel it. Spock watched her fingers drop pieces of peel into one of their empty food containers.

"In public," he replied as the smell of oranges filled the air. "In private it is another matter. It would be impractical to eat some foods with cutlery," he said as he peeled his own fruit. Nyota nodded and tore off a segment, oblivious to his eyes on her as she lifted it to her lips. "And besides, we are not on Vulcan."

"Hmmm," she replied, sucking her lips into her mouth to prevent the juice escaping down her chin. Spock likewise began to eat, observing curiously as she reached for a napkin to wipe away a trail of juice that trickled along the side of her wrist and down her arm. She sucked the tip of her thumb between her lips and unbidden, images flashed through his mind of reaching forward and sucking the juice off her skin. In his head she moaned, a soft breathy sound through parted lips as he ran his tongue up her arm to suck on her fingers. They would taste of oranges, her mouth would taste of oranges when he kissed her. Of course, Human females did not often react quite so positively to unsolicited kisses. She would be offended no doubt and perhaps with that hidden temper she might strike him. It wouldn't hurt very much, as fragile as she was he could easily overwhelm her if he tried. She was prideful though and she had claws, she would fight him most certainly but wouldn't that be as thrilling as if she reciprocated? Wouldn't it be thrilling to subdue her and make her accept his kisses, to push her to the ground and rip her dress and just take her?

When she realised he was staring at her, she gave him another small bashful smile, a kindly smile, a trusting smile and Spock felt suddenly dreadfully, painfully ashamed.


	7. Chapter 7

"You want to go up the old cable car to the peak and look across the bay?" Nyota asked as they ambled through the evening air after dinner. Spock clasped his hands behind his back and nodded, pursing his lips a little. "It's like an antique, I thought you might be interested to see it."

"That is agreeable," he told her gently and she smiled and bumped her shoulder against his. When they reached the transit point they were the only ones there and so in the privacy of the creaking old cable car, Spock stood close behind her, gripping the handrail on either side of her body. Nyota leaned her head back against his shoulder and he let his eyes fall closed as he breathed in her scent. He was filled by a strong urge to be physically near her and to protect her, primitive Vulcan urges that seemed to override any gentler Human affection. Nyota seemed to enjoy it, at times she provoked it, sought it out on purpose for her own titillation and it both gratified and unnerved him.

"Isn't that view just amazing?" she asked softly as they ascended the hill, the bright lights glittering in the dark water of the bay.

When they arrived at their accommodations earlier that day, Nyota had taken a moment to look out of the long window that lined the room and appreciate the breathtaking view of the city beyond.

"Wow."

Spock set down the case he was carrying and moved to stand beside her. "You've really outdone yourself," she said gently, turning to give him a lazy smile. Spock blinked at her and his eyes fell closed as she leaned closer to rub her nose against his.

Spock rolled out his meditation mat and sat in front of the window, watching the sunset over the cityscape instead of lighting a candle. Nyota lay sprawled out on the bed in the next room, 'catching up' she'd said. They had two days leave and had taken the chance to go far away from the prying eyes at the Academy, travelling half way across the globe 'just to...be together' she had said. Here they were just a Human woman and her alien companion and people could think what they wanted. Nyota seemed to find it an amusing fiction to tell people he was a Vulcan diplomat and she was his attachee but Spock found this ever so slightly too familiar for comfort and refused to go along with it.

"You think that it's somehow less incriminating if we tell them the truth?" she teased as they boarded the shuttle in Los Angeles. They had travelled separately from San Francisco before meeting up and making the rest of the journey together because Nyota had decided it would be less conspicuous.

Spock quirked a brow and hustled her into the compartment towards their seats. "I do not think it necessary to provide any explanation," he told her. "Fictionalized or otherwise." Nyota had pressed her lips together and let out a huffing little breath through her nose as she stifled her amusement. He was uncertain of his opinion about her reaction to their little vacation, his mind too clouded by emotion. Did she really think what they had was so sordid she had to make up stories? Hadn't he shown her otherwise? Didn't she know?

When she roused from her slumber she gave him a small smile before shuffling off into the bathroom. At the loud sound of water filling the bathtub Spock rose and slipped quietly across the room, hovering at the door and peering in to watch her reflection in the mirror as she undressed.

"You can come in you know," she told him as she stepped into the water and he didn't need to be told twice. He stood by the bath looking down at her with an expression she knew too well and she grinned and turned her face away. "Wash my back," she implored and even though it was unnecessary he did it anyway. Should he have been concerned at how easily she convinced him to join her? Maybe, but he reminded himself that she was Human and this was what Human lovers did. He would be a little more Human if she wanted him to even if they both knew that he was not.

"And when I'm an old lady you can come and visit me in the nursing home and remind me of it," she said playfully as she knelt up to pour water over his head, her soapy breasts level with his eyes. Spock scowled a little and she chuckled at the sight of his hair sticking up in spikes and water trickling down his pointed ears, looking for all the world like a bad tempered cat being given a bath.

"You will not live out your days in such a manner," he told her dourly as she sat back down into the water.

"I won't huh?" she murmured, reaching for some shampoo and squirting into her palm. "Well whatever happens it will be a nice memory." Spock wanted to tell her he would never let end her days in a care home, he wanted to tell her he would look after her when she was too old to look after herself but he knew she didn't want to hear it. They didn't talk about the future, about how she'd grow old and die long before he would, about the pon farr or the fiancee waiting in the wings. It was one of the less pleasant aspects of their relationship and of all the times in his life that he had ever experienced true hatred, this was one of them. He hated to think that she wouldn't stay with him, that she'd send him back to Vulcan to be with the other one and replace him with someone else. If they continued the way they were going that wouldn't be an option at all. Maybe he should warn her what might happen but he didn't, he didn't know for sure that it would even though part of him hoped for it – as much as he wasn't quite Human he wasn't quite Vulcan either. He wasn't logical, this wasn't logical but she was beautiful and he wanted her. Spock took a deep, slow breath to clear his mind and let his eyes fall closed at the delightful sensation of her fingers on his scalp.

On Vulcan baths were considered unnecessarily luxurious and therefore illogical so Spock had no experience of the logistics of copulating in one. In the end the entire process proved so cumbersome and, in his opinion, hazardous that he stood up and carried her out of the bath and back towards the bed. Afterwards he sat back against the headboard in the nude and watched in silence as she dressed, finding the entire process almost as thrilling as watching her undress. She sat in front of the mirror in her undergarments – and highly pleasing undergarments they were – to put on her make up and Spock was fascinated. He'd watched his mother do this only very rarely. Mores of dress and modesty on Vulcan were very different than on Earth and although there were undeniably some very beautiful Vulcan women there was something compelling about watching this fragile Human creature performing these feminine rituals.

Spock couldn't speak as they stood together by the door putting on their coats, he was struck utterly dumb by the sight of her. He'd rarely seen her out of her Starfleet uniform and even when he did she was wearing casual clothes, pants, sweaters, plain (if still highly pleasing) utilitarian underwear. Now she was wearing something Humans called a 'cocktail dress' and highly illogical yet somehow desperately stimulating shoes with high heels and her hair – oh her hair, it was curling around her face and he longed to run his fingers through it.

"Are you alright?" she asked and he nodded mutely.

"Are you alright?" he parroted like an automaton.

"I'm fine," she chirped, reaching for the panel to open the door.

"You are," he replied as they stepped into the hall.

"It's cold," Nyota said with a shiver as they stood at the viewpoint on top of the peak and he turned to her, the wind blowing her hair all over the place. She shuffled closer and he did not argue as she insinuated herself under his coat, wrapping his arms around her and leaning his cheek against her head instead. Nyota hummed and snuggled closer. "You're so warm," she cooed and he sighed softly. After a moment he reached up to pull away the strands of hair that stuck to her face and instinctively she pressed her cheek against his hand. There wasn't another soul about and so he took a deep breath and let his fingers press against her, unable to resist the compulsion.

They stood for a long time drifting in the sweet haze of eachother's minds and when Spock ended the connection abruptly, Nyota gasped loudly. Spock caught her as she staggered and held her close, turning to stare at the source of the interruption.

"Is everything alright up here?" A sour faced Human male in a uniform stood under the archway of the transit point, glaring at them with a look of disapproval. Nyota swallowed and swayed a little, disoriented from the meld.

"Everything is fine," Spock answered, turning to wrap his arm about her waist. Under the watchful eyes of the guard, he escorted her back into the rickety old car to make the descent back down the mountain. Nyota was a little unsteady on her feet, the usual post meld disorientation exacerbated by the abruptness with which he had broken the connection. When they stepped outside at the bottom they were met by two guards and she could sense his apprehension as they approached.

"Mam, are you okay?" one asked, stepping closer.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, nodding her head and trying to focus on him. Spock licked his lips and held her closer. The two guards glanced at one another, communicating silently.

"Sir, if you wouldn't mind terribly," the other one asked, clasping his hand to the weapon at his waist. Spock stood up straighter, his muscles tensing. Nyota reached down and held his hand tightly.

"Everything's fine officer," she told the officer nearest to her but he gave her a sceptical look.

"Mam, we've received a report of some suspicious activity..." he explained and her heart raced. The guard at the top of the peak had seen them, a pretty girl alone in the middle of nowhere and a Vulcan with his hand on her face. She felt sick at the implication.

"Really, there's no problem sir," she continued but then Spock moved to stand ever so slightly in front of her.

"Raise your hands, please, sir," one uttered rapidly, sliding his weapon out of its holster and pointing it at Spock. Spock raised his hands in a gesture of compliance, his brow mimicking the motion as he did so.

"Officer, we haven't done anything wrong, we're just on vacation," Nyota explained stepping between Spock and the end of the weapon trained on him.

"It's alright mam, we're here to help you," the officer interrupted forcefully and when he reached his hand out to clasp her arm the primitive Vulcan in Spock reacted instinctively, his fist connecting hard with the man's jaw and sending him flying backwards to hit the wall behind with a sickening thud. His brain registered a flash of light and Nyota's voice screaming his name and then the pulse of an energy weapon impacted painfully against his chest and everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

San Francisco was experiencing what Nyota referred to as a 'cold snap' when Spock encountered her on the path towards the linguistics faculty. She was wrapped up in a fluffy scarf that almost entirely obscured her mouth as she spoke.

"Well I suppose the word 'snap' is supposed to indicate the suddenness of it all," she explained when he queried the etymology of the phrase. They fell into step and she smiled as she noticed the gloves on his hands and the hunch of his shoulders.

"This winter is uncharacteristically cold for this region," Spock commented with some displeasure.

"It never gets this cold where I'm from either," she commented sympathetically. "The first time I saw snow I thought it was the coolest thing ever." Spock tilted his head to one side and she laughed. "I mean, cool as in...it's an expression indicating something is..."

"I understand the vernacular, Lieutenant," he explained. "I thought in this instance it was a rather interesting choice of words." She smiled and shifted the stack of PADDs in her arms.

"What about you? Do you like the snow?" she asked as they passed under an archway and into the quad beyond.

"I neither like nor dislike it," he said and she rolled her eyes ever so slightly.

"Of course, sorry," she added before he continued.

"I will confess to a certain...scientific curiosity upon my first encounter with the phenomenon," he admitted and Nyota chewed her lip to keep from smiling. That was obviously the Vulcan way of saying he sort of liked it and she took a moment to imagine hurling a snowball at him.

When they reached the linguistics building they made their way up the steps and just as they reached the top, her boot skidded a little on the ice.

"Woah!" she gasped, sticking one arm out to balance herself and clutching the PADDs in her arms ever tighter. As she hunched to one side, Spock chivalrously caught her arm and held her upright. "How embarrassing," she quipped as they walked under the covered walkway towards the doors.

"Not in the least," Spock replied but then she skidded again. This time she made no bones about grabbing onto him and it was with some interest that he observed her amusement at the situation, a wide smile painted across her face as she giggled. Spock remained quiet so a moment later Nyota cleared her throat and stood up straight. "Thank you," she said sedately as they began again towards the doors again but they had only taken two steps when Spock's foot slipped and he wavered. His arms shot up in an effort to stop himself falling over and Nyota immediately burst out laughing again, gripping his forearm in support.

"I am glad you find the situation amusing," he told her neutrally and she dropped her eyes in contrition. "Amusement is preferable to embarrassment is it not?" he added wryly and she smiled again.

"Most definitely," she replied as the doors opened and they walked inside.

As they entered his office, Nyota began to shrug off her coat and shook her body from side to side as she emitted a loud, shivering breath.

"Computer adjust temperature to three hundred point one five Kelvin," Spock intoned.

"Toasty," Nyota quipped as she crossed the room. "I approve." Spock quirked a brow before disappearing out of the room once more. Nyota seated herself at her usual post and set the PADDs down on the desk before logging into the computer terminal. A few minutes later Spock returned carrying two steaming cups, crossing the room to set one down before her. Nyota's eyes went wide and she immediately reached for it, wrapping her hands around the cup. "Oh Spock I could kiss you!" she exclaimed as she inhaled the sweet steamy aroma of hot chocolate.

Spock's face displayed an uncharacteristic look of surprise. "I am not certain that is appropriate," he told her. Nyota chuckled.

"Oh I...I just meant to say...I was just expressing my gratitude," she explained, blowing across her cup. Spock quirked a brow.

"I see," he replied neutrally. "I believe thank you would suffice." Nyota dipped her head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be inappropriate," she said contritely. "It just came out. I know kissing is considered very...intimate among Vulcans." Spock nodded a little and eased himself into his own chair.

"Does it not have similar connotations among Humans?" he queried as he leant forward and turned on his computer console. Nyota pursed her lips for a second.

"Well, not always," she said. "I kiss my mother. I kissed Gaila last week." Spock turned and looked her straight in the eye and Nyota struggled not to laugh at the look on his face. "What I mean is, sometimes it's just a gesture of affection and not...not an act of...intimacy." She struggled to properly enunciate the last word.

"I believe I understand," he told her, back to his usual monotone.

"Don't Vulcans have something equivalent, albeit perhaps less...overt?" she asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate and Spock considered this for a moment.

"Vulcans do not express such sentiments openly, if they experience them at all," he replied after a while. Nyota chewed on her lip.

"Oh, yeah," she murmured, dropping her gaze. Spock regarded her thoughtfully and shifted in his seat.

"I have witnessed Vulcans touching their fingers together," he said eventually and she looked up and met his eyes.

"Oh, okay," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "Well there you go, I've learned something new today." Spock nodded and reached for his own drink. "Well, let me rephrase my earlier statement. Spock I could touch your fingers," she said, raising her cup in the air like she was making a toast. Spock took a long sip and felt the warmth of the drink seep through his body.

"I must concede that it is somehow less effective than your original wording," Spock told her, looking at her with a fond expression. Nyota wrinkled her nose and nodded.

"Yeah, right? Well you'll just have to take the will for the deed," she said, setting down her cup and shuffling her chair forward a little bit. That seemed to Spock somehow highly unsatisfactory.

"It seems to me that since verbally communicating the gesture is ineffective and its Human equivalent inappropriate, perhaps we ought to consider performing the genuflection itself," he prattled. He sure had a knack for verbosity, Nyota mused, a smile spreading across her face.

"The more I get to know you the more I understand why they gave you this job," she quipped playfully as she wheeled her chair closer to his desk. Spock did not reply just looked at her with a soft expression and raised his hand.

"Extend your fingers thus," he intoned softly and Nyota obeyed, her brow furrowing like a thoughtful child trying to impress the grown ups. "And press them together like this," he explained, leaning his fingers towards her. When the tips of their fingers pressed gently together for a moment she blinked and when she smiled he could see her teeth.

"That's it?" she chirped and Spock's head shook imperceptibly.

"You were expecting something else?" he asked, his voice betraying the merest hint of disappointment. Nyota's brows went up a little way.

"No, no I just...I thought it would be...different that's all," she explained and he tilted his head to one side.

"I believe..." he began, clasping her wrist lightly in his other hand. "That it may be elaborated upon...like this," he continued, running his fingers down the back of her index finger and across the back of her hand. Nyota's shoulders slouched ever so slightly and she let out the tiniest sighing breath, much to his satisfaction. "And now you..." he said, moving her hand onto the back of his. Nyota meekly obeyed, not missing the vague narrowing of his eyes as she did so. No wonder people accused them of having powers of mind control, she thought idly because at that moment she felt very much like he was hypnotizing her although truth be told, she really didn't object at all.

"Oh," she uttered very very softly. "That's...sweet." Spock nodded ever so gently and when she met his eyes, she felt suddenly very warm. She licked her lips and swallowed, aware of his eyes tracking the motion of her tongue across her lip. Spock released her hand and she shook herself back to reality. "Thanks," she said, giving him a bashful smile, her chair squeaking as she shuffled back towards her console.

"You are welcome," Spock told her gently and when she glanced back he was already busying himself on his console. Nyota turned back to the screen before her and started to flick through her half completed lesson plans but all she could think about for the rest of the afternoon was how warm his hands were and how nice it would be to really kiss him. Of course what she didn't know was that Spock was thinking the exact same thing.


	9. Chapter 9

The night they first went to bed, Nyota felt like she could have quite happily stayed tangled up in the sheets with him forever. It was relatively early, just around one am and though it had been hours since they'd locked the door, they were still coiled around one another sharing a lingering wet kiss. When her comm trilled Spock was reluctant to let her go as she shuffled across the mattress on her belly to hang over the edge of the bed and reached for her skirt. He pressed his lips against her backside and gave a slow mouthy bite to the soft flesh there, his fingers slipping back between her legs experimentally.

"Hey," Nyota uttered, pulling her comm from her skirt pocket and stuffing the headset in her ear. "Yeah sorry, I had some work to get done," she explained to the faint chirping voice on the other end. She twisted and sat up against the head board and Spock shuffled between her legs to lay his head on her stomach.

"Um, I'm not sure. Yeah of course, it's just taking longer than I expected," she said, her voice wavering slightly as Spock spread her knees wider and prodded between her legs with one long finger. Nyota placed her hand on his head and dug her fingers into his hair but this only had the effect of encouraging him and she bit her lip to stifle a gasp. "Hmm, ok, yup, I'll see you in a little bit. Yup. Yup. Bye, bye." She slammed the lid closed and pulled his hair harder. "Jesus Spock," she gasped but he didn't answer, just buried his face between her legs again. Her head was spinning and her arms flailed as she tried ineffectually to get a grip on the head board as he dragged her down the bed and climbed on top of her. "I have to go," she mumbled as his mouth closed over hers but then he was inside her again and she gave up trying to argue, wrapping her arms around him tightly instead as he ground her into the mattress.

Afterwards he sat despondently on the edge of the bed and got in the way as she dressed. "Come on, I have to go," she argued, pushing his hands away as he reached for her. "Spock please," she implored, turning to face him and catching his face in her hands. He blinked at her and pressed his nose against her stomach.

"When will you return?" he asked, nuzzling her skin and she sighed, stroking her hand down the back of his head.

"Soon I promise," she said breathlessly and he raised his chin to look her in the eye.

"We must be discreet," he told her and she nodded, running her knuckles along his jaw.

"It won't look good to have me leaving here at all hours of the night," she said sadly and he sucked his teeth for a second before standing up, holding her arms in a gentle grip.

"Then you must come in the daylight," he suggested and she smiled and let him kiss her. When she eventually manage to disentangle herself from his embrace he followed her into the next room.

"Can I borrow this?" she asked, picking an oversize PADD from the table. Spock's brow furrowed.

"For what purpose?" Nyota adjusted her clothing and took a step towards the door.

"I'm supposed to have been working in the library," she told him and he scowled a little.

"A deception," he uttered in disapproval. Nyota's nostrils flared and she shrugged.

"You want me to go back and tell her the truth?" she asked in exasperation. Spock dropped his eyes to the floor. "Look, I don't like it any more than you do," she said softly, reaching up and stroking his ear. "Let's just try and be logical about this okay?" He met her eyes, blinking at her sleepily and she let him give her another long lingering kiss.

She was only a few hundred yards past the front door when her comm chirped and she tucked the PADD under her arm, digging into her pocket once more.

"Hello?" she asked, dropping her eyes to the floor as she encountered an officer coming the other way.

"Since you would not permit me to accompany you I thought I could do so by some other means," Spock's voice said down the line and she didn't even try to suppress the enormous grin that spread across her face.

Gaila was already in bed by the time she got home and she wondered if she couldn't have gotten away with not coming back at all. She'd spent a long time mooching around in the hall outside their room saying goodnight to Spock, speaking in a low whispering voice as she hovered by the tall window at the end of the corridor. Inside, she undressed in darkness before slipping into the bathroom. As she stood drying off after a brief shower, she surveyed the evidence of their encounter painted in purples and reds across her skin. She twisted, peering over her shoulder in the mirror at the trail of love bites along her spine and pressed her teeth into her lower lip, flushing at the memory.

As she slipped under the covers, she thought of him alone in his quarters and huffed a despondent breath that she couldn't be there with him. She rolled onto her side and stared at the whitewashed wall, her muscles aching and her mind racing. After a few minutes a light flickered somewhere behind her and she turned over to see her comm flashing on the beside table. Grabbing it she pulled it inside the bed with her, throwing the covers up over her head to obscure the light.

I am unable to sleep - the text read and she smiled, snuggling down as she typed a reply.

That night seemed to drag interminably and the morning didn't pass any more quickly either. She ignored Gaila's pointed quips about 'grading assessments', nonchalantly tucking Spock's PADD into her bag with her own materials. That afternoon at the appointed hour, Nyota made her way to his office to return the PADD and she loitered outside his door for a while, watching from a distance as he stood in conversation with two other instructors a way down the hall. He gave only the briefest of glances in her direction, appearing for all the world the same frosty Vulcan that he always did and it gave her immense satisfaction to have seen beneath that icy exterior. He was her secret.

"Kiss me," she implored when they stood alone in his office, the PADD forgotten on a chair. Spock buried his fingers in her hair and held her head in his hands as he backed her against the wall and complied. He was very compliant indeed as she reduced him to a gasping gibbering mess, trembling with unfulfilled desire as she shoved him down into a chair. She needed to get control of herself but it was such a turn on hearing him gasp like that as she squirmed against the hard lump in his pants.

"You must be logical for both of us," he uttered breathlessly, clasping her wrists and holding her arms away from him. "You are in control because I have none." Nyota was breathing hard as she met his stricken expression and she swallowed hard.

"We shouldn't do this here," she stuttered and he shook his head mutely, pulling her close and pressing his cheek against hers. She wrapped her arms around him tightly as his hands stroked up and down her back, his breath loud in her ear. "I thought about you all day," she told him, screwing her eyes up tight and he seemed to pull her even closer, squeezing his arms around her so tight she almost couldn't breathe.

"As I have you," he replied in a sorrowful tone. Nyota shifted and clasped the back of his head in her palm, turning to press a kiss through his hair and nuzzling the point of his ear with her nose.

"I've imagined us here together," she confessed, pulling back and leaning her forehead against his. Spock gasped and pressed his lips to hers briefly, holding her head in his hands. She knew that if she pushed him, he would not be able to resist, that if she really wanted it he'd push her down on the carpet and do what they were both thinking about. "I want it so much," she said, nuzzling his face with her nose and he hummed, reaching up to cup her cheek with his hand.

"Perhaps we can find a happy medium," he murmured and she smiled as she met the tender look in his eyes. She chewed her lower lip in anticipation, looking back at him and nodding earnestly. Spock blinked sleepily and Nyota took a deep breath, closing her eyes as his fingers splayed across her cheek.

It felt like hours but it was really only a few minutes that they were joined. In her head, or maybe it was his she wasn't sure, they were entangled across his desk. It felt utterly real, the trail of his fingernails down the inside of her thigh, the obscene sounds of tongues and fingers on intimate places. In the real world she giggled at the sound of PADDs crashing to the floor and the creaking legs of the table as it protested under their combined weight and when she finally opened her eyes, her body ached with the same delicious throb of pleasure as if they'd actually done what they'd imagined. Spock's face was very close, his hand slipping a way down her face as he looked at her with sleepy hooded eyes and his breathing labored.

"You're amazing," she told him drowsily and he blinked.

"You are beautiful," he replied, his hand squeezing her hip gently.

If they couldn't really be together then they would find another way. It was a relationship of brief glances laden with meaning only they understood, of discreet Vulcan kisses in the office and imagined lovemaking that was more pleasurable to her than any real life tryst she'd shared with another lover. With his fingers they went everywhere and anywhere, the Vulcan desert, the Andorian Wastes, everywhere he'd ever visited on a Starship and everywhere she ever wanted to go. One morning between classes he stole her away back to the arboretum on Utopia Planitia but this time instead of letting her go he laid her down into the flowers and made her lose her mind, the stars twinkling in the Martian night above and the Earth hovering in the distance like some blue moon. And when it got too much, they'd really be together. Rare nights in the privacy of his quarters where the kisses where more Human than Vulcan and they did everything and anything. Long walks in the Marin Headlands, standing in the wind watching the endless stream of shuttles in and out of the city. Up there he could hold her hand and no-one would see and if they did they wouldn't care. There were enough aliens in San Francisco that the sight of a Vulcan and Human together garnered only a few curious glances. Nyota was so swept up in it and though she would not say it out loud, so in love with him she didn't even think about what others would think. To her the only reasons why they had to hide were professional ones. She didn't think about him as an alien even though the majority of their intimacy was predicated upon that very fact. Just like she didn't think about his other life on a distant planet where an alien woman was waiting for him. She didn't think about what he was, or who he really was or what he had to lose by being with her. All she thought about was what she wanted and she wanted him and to her endless delight, he wanted her too.


	10. Chapter 10

It was a week or so before they went to Mars that Nyota was making her way to Spock's office for the genuinely innocent purpose of collecting some work. From along the corridor she could see his door was open and as she neared she heard the low rumbling tone of male voices wafting along the hall. Cautiously she came to a halt and peeked around the door frame to see Admiral Barnett sitting in the chair in front of Spock's desk while Spock himself sat stony faced across from him. She could tell instantly from his demeanour that he was agitated although she was doubtful the Admiral would notice. When you worked closely with someone for an extended period you began to appreciate the vagaries of their moods, even if that person was a Vulcan.

"Ah Commander Spock you have a visitor," the Admiral said, a smile spreading across his face as he met Nyota's eyes.

"I beg your pardon," she said politely, stepping back a little way and adopting a suitably respectful pose. Admiral Barnett smiled a little wider and rose from his seat.

"You must be Lieutenant Uhura," he said congenially, extending his hand towards her. Spock's lip twitched imperceptibly as he likewise rose from his chair. "The Commander has been most effusive in his praise of you," the Admiral told her. "You're a dark horse Commander," he quipped playfully as she shook his hand. "You didn't tell me your assistant was so lovely." Nyota blushed and dropped her eyes to the floor.

"The lieutenant is unmatched in Xenolinguistics," Spock stated neutrally, his face utterly blank.

"Oh I don't know about that," Uhura said with a bashful huff of breath.

"Modest too," the Admiral observed, releasing her hand. "Vulcans don't exaggerate," he told her kindly.

"I don't mean to intrude," Nyota said, swallowing hard. "I can come back in a few minutes."

"That won't be necessary," the Admiral assured her. "I think we're done here. The Commander is all yours." Nyota met his eyes and managed a smile. "Well, I'll see you very soon Commander Spock," the Admiral said, turning to Spock with a slight bow of his head. "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lieutenant."

"Likewise sir," Nyota added and with that the Admiral stepped around her and disappeared down the hall. Nyota turned to watch him go and Spock moved around his desk to brush his hand against the door panel. Nyota licked her lips as it slid quietly shut and they were alone.

"What was that all about?" she asked as Spock turned to her. He took a breath.

"The Admiral has requested my assistance with a Starfleet matter," he told her stepping a little closer, his fingers flexing and his eyes darting from side to side.

"Oh," she chirped, chewing her lip as he approached. "You seem...peturbed," she added and Spock let out the slightest huff of breath.

"You are aware of the upcoming Federation Summit," he said after a moment and she nodded. Spock swallowed before continuing. "The Admiral has requested my presence at the formal reception." Nyota nodded again and remained silent, seeking out his eyes. Spock licked his lips. "There will be a Vulcan delegation present."

"Ah," she said, wincing a little at the implication.

"Ah indeed," Spock replied.

"And he wants you to be Starfleet's token Vulcan?" she asked and he quirked a brow.

"He is laboring under the misguided notion that my presence will somehow positively influence the delegation," he told her and she gave him a small smile.

"I suppose he's ordered you to attend?" she asked softly and Spock nodded.

"He has," he replied. "I confess I am...disturbed by the prospect."

"Because you don't want to see the Vulcans or because you don't like these kinds of functions?" Nyota asked sympathetically.

"Both," Spock told her, meeting her eyes and she smiled.

"Well I would tell you to just enjoy the free bar but I know that won't sway you," she teased and Spock tilted his head to one side.

"These functions are noted for their lavish catering," he said with a twitch of his brow, his mood already a little less severe. Nyota chuffed a little breath of amusement.

"That's the spirit," she told him sweetly. "Besides I'm sure you'll find someone interesting to talk to."

"I respect Admiral Barnett for his achievements however I find his conversation somewhat lacking," he replied and she chuckled.

"Spock I think you must find most people's conversation somewhat lacking," she teased and he turned to her with a slight furrow in his brow.

"That is not case," he said a trifle defensively, looking her up and down. "I find our conversations to be highly engaging." Nyota smiled.

"You mean you indulge my simple mindedness because you're too nice to tell me otherwise," she joked. Spock shook his head and almost scowled.

"I assure you that is not so," he countered. Nyota huffed a little breath and grinned.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said, giving him the slightest pat on the bicep without even thinking about what she was doing. "Anyway, I don't mean to give you the brush off but I want get these assessments home before it starts raining again," she said, turning to the pile of PADDs on his desk. Spock stood up a little straighter, clasping his hands behind his back and silently observing her profile as she began to glance through the heap.

"I wonder," he mused quietly and she glanced up at his face briefly.

"What do you wonder?" she asked before turning her attention back to what she was doing.

"I wonder if Admiral Barnett might be persuaded to allow me to bring a guest," he said quietly and when she looked at his face his eyes were narrowed and his expression thoughtful. Nyota hesitated for a minute before standing up straight.

"You don't mean...me?" she asked with a wide eyed look of astonishment. Spock tilted his head to one side.

"That is what I mean," he stated blankly as though it was the most everyday circumstance. Nyota's mouth fell open and she shook her head a little.

"Spock, I...I'm just the teaching assistant," she told him. "I haven't even had a real posting yet. What would I be doing at...a Federation Summit?!" Spock raised a nonchalant brow.

"On consideration I find it to be a perfectly logical suggestion," he replied casually. "Your linguistic skills would be most appropriate." Nyota swallowed and glanced around the room speechless.

"I...I don't know what to say," she said after a minute.

"Say you will consent to attend," Spock uttered as though it should be obvious. "I shall contact the Admiral," he added, turning towards his desk. "I believe he will be amenable, he seemed...impressed...by you." Nyota blushed a little and shuffled from foot to foot.

"You want me to come with you?" she asked still surprised.

"I will not order you to do so, Lieutenant," Spock said, his hand hovering over the console. Nyota licked her lips and considered this for a moment.

"What will I do?" she queried. Spock shrugged imperceptibly.

"Avail yourself of the catering?," he suggested. Nyota furrowed her brow.

"Who will I talk to?" she asked and Spock gave her an innocent look.

"You may talk to me," he told her and she couldn't help the grin that broke out across her face.

"Okay, okay," she said after a minute. "Sure, why not? It will be...an experience."

"Indeed," Spock said, his fingers moving over the console as he started the call to the Admiral. "It may be prudent to remain silent for the next few minutes," he ventured and she bit her lip and nodded, skulking backwards to lean against the wall opposite his desk.

Nyota couldn't tell where the Admiral was when he answered Spock's call but she she guess from the background chatter that he was still on his way back to his offices. She glanced up at the ceiling and bounced against her arms as they pressed into the wall behind her.

"That's not a bad idea Spock," the Admiral's voice sounded from the speaker. Spock glanced towards her and quirked his brow at her playfully. "A pretty face never did any harm in these situations," the Admiral added and Spock's eyes darted sideways. Nyota resumed her examination of the ceiling tiles and pursed her lips.

When the call was finished Spock turned his chair and rose to his feet.

"It is settled then," he said as he moved around the desk.

"I guess so," she said with a hint of awkwardness. Spock shifted and tilted his head to one side.

"May I assure you I was not considering your facial planimetry when I suggested your attendance," he told her and she pressed her lips together.

"It's alright Spock," she said with a chuckle. "You can be the token Vulcan and I...I'll be the pretty face," she added with the slightest roll of her eyes. She stepped forward and started to gather the PADDs on his desk into her arms.

"Allow me to assist you," Spock blustered, stepping closer and picking up a PADD or two. "Are you sure you are able to carry so many?" he queried, eyeing the stack in her arms sceptically.

"Yeah, it's fine," she answered cheerfully, shifting her arms to get a better grip on them.

"I have a bag that you may make use of," he suggested.

"No, it's okay, I got it," she replied with a nod and a smile. Spock did not comment when as she stepped towards the door the PADDs slipped against one another, a few escaping and clattering to the floor. Nyota huffed and shook her head, pointedly avoiding his raised brow as she stooped to gather them up. Spock chivalrously bent down to help her but instead of handing the PADDs back to her so she could stack them up in her arms he carried them across the room, pulling out a drawer and removing a black bag.

"Seriously I got it," she said but on meeting his questioning gaze, she shrugged and shuffled towards him with a sheepish look. "Thanks," she murmured as he took the PADDs from her and stowed them in the bag. Silently he sealed it and handed it towards her.

"It is I that should thank you," he said quietly as she hung it across her shoulder and she raised her chin to find him looking at her with a gentle expression. "For agreeing to spare me from unconscionable tedium."

She blinked slowly and smiled with equal languor. "Well now, I couldn't let you go without someone engaging to talk to, facial planimetry notwithstanding" she told him with a hint of amusement. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and hesitated for just a second before reaching forward and gently tapping the tips of his fingers with her own. Spock's lashes fluttered and she smiled again. "I'll see you later," she added before taking a step towards the door.

"I look forward to it," Spock replied and as she glanced back at him from the doorway, she was sure she saw the very vaguest curl of a smile on his face.


	11. Chapter 11

She really, genuinely, honestly didn't come here for this, really she didn't. She just wanted to get his opinion on her end of semester reports. She'd had a difficult time with one of her students and... Nyota wasn't quite sure who she was trying to convince but regardless of why she had come, Spock was not about to send her away. On the contrary he was proving to be quite welcoming indeed, seating her on his couch and crouching down to divest her of her boots while she shrugged off her coat, their lips fastened hungrily together.

She'd loitered in the hall outside, chewing on her lip and shifting from foot to foot. She smiled at one of Spock's neighbours as he passed in the corridor and nervously tucked her hair behind her ear while clutching a PADD in her other hand. Nyota had a feeling that excuse was going to get old really fast but the thought was put out of her head when Spock answered his door bare chested with a sleepy look in his eyes. He did not speak, merely looked her up and down and raised his brow. Nyota cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she offered lamely. "I ah...just wanted to um..." she stammered, wafting the PADD around in the air. Spock tilted his head and stepped to one side, gesturing with his chin for her to enter.

It was dark inside, a single candle flickering on a low table in the middle of the room and Nyota immediately thought how cosy it was but then Spock was standing beside her. She glanced up and pursed her lips.

"Twice in one week Lieutenant," he said, eyeing the PADD in her hand sceptically. She licked her lips and glanced around awkwardly.

"I um...wanted to give you my end of semester...reports," she said, handing him the PADD. Spock took it from her and gave it the most cursory of glances before setting it down on the side.

"A logical enough reason," he drawled and she huffed a little breath, scraping her teeth across her lower lip.

"I'm sorry, I just...I couldn't stop thinking about you," she confessed and he gave her the slightest of smiles.

"As you might imagine, I was unconvinced by this fiction about...reports," he told her, stepping closer and cupping her face in his hands. Nyota sighed and let her eyes fall closed as he kissed her, her palms coming to rest against his bare chest. She stroked her hands across his skin, brushing her fingers through the coarse hair sprinkled over his body and thinking that it just wasn't logical for anyone to be so sexy. When he pulled back she chased his lips with hers, opening her eyes to find him looking at her with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. "Come," he implored gently. "Sit." Gently he hustled her towards his couch and she let him push her down onto the cushions.

"Were you meditating?" she queried, glancing at the candle. Spock sat beside her and nodded, his eyes fixed intently on her profile as he shuffled a little closer.

"Would you like to remove your coat?" he asked and she turned to face him.

"I've interrupted," she said. "I feel bad." Spock shook his head.

"I do not wish you to ever...feel bad...in my presence," he told her softly, stroking his hand down the side of her face. She sighed and gave him a sleepy smile."Your coat," he reminded her gently.

Nyota licked her lips and nodded, reaching for the zipper while he leaned down and tugged the leg of her pants up a way to reach the fastening on her boot. He pulled it off her foot and let it fall to the floor before kneeling down before her and reaching for her other leg. Nyota watched him through her lashes and when he looked up she could not and did not resist the compulsion to kiss him.

"I am glad you are here," he breathed against her lips and she hummed, shoving her coat down her arms and reaching up to cup the back of his head in her hands.

"I know we said..." She fell silent as he leaned closer and kissed her more intently, insinuating himself between her legs and sliding his hands under the back of her sweater. "But I..." she gasped, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and pulling him close, her fingers burrowing into his hair. He kissed her for a long time, his hands roaming under her clothes while hers likewise traced a path up and down his spine. She let him press her back against the couch and wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding her crotch against him. Spock was almost purring and when she stroked her fingertips up around the shell of his ears to gently rub the tips between the pads of her thumb and forefinger he let out a little growl. "You are too adorable," she said as he pulled back to divest her of her sweater. Spock tossed it to one side and quirked his brow.

"Not a description I have heard before," he told her, fiddling with the fly of her pants. Obligingly Nyota wiggled her hips as he tugged them down over her hips.

"What do people usually call you?" she queried, scratching her nails lightly down his biceps and making him shiver.

"Pointy eared bastard is the most common epithet," he told her as he peeled her pants over her feet. She hummed and pouted her lips in sympathy, stroking her hand across his stubbly chin. "I very much like these garments," he told her earnestly, trailing his finger down the strap of her bra and sliding the tip underneath. Nyota sighed and leaned back on her hands, sticking her chest out a little way. Spock's eyes went wide.

"You do huh?" she murmured, leaning into his touch as he ran his hands across her breasts and down the sides of her body. Spock's eyes followed the path of his hands as he swept over her hips and across her thighs, his thumbs pressing in firm circles as he trailed back up her legs again. "What's up?" she asked gently as his brow furrowed. He sighed and met her eyes.

"I am merely committing the sight of you to memory," he told her softly, cupping her jaw in his palm. Nyota blinked lazily and smiled, turning to press a kiss into his hand. Spock traced her lips with the pad of his thumb and Nyota could not resist the compulsion to suck the tip gently into her mouth. His breath hitched and her eyes narrowed victoriously as he pressed his thumb between her lips. She hummed and cradled it on her tongue, sucking gently. Spock's eyes narrowed and his lips parted as she gently pulled back, his thumb sliding out of her lips before she sucked it back in again. Spock let out a breathy groan and she pressed her teeth gently against his skin, gnawing on his thumb playfully. When his breath caught again she grinned and reached up, taking hold of his hand and one by one, repeated the same procedure on each finger. As she sucked on his index finger, bobbing her head and swirling her tongue, Spock made a sound not a million miles from the one he made when she had performed this same action on another more conventionally sexual organ. He swayed a little, his narrowed to slits and so she shuffled closer to reach down with her other hand and stroke her palm firmly across the bulge in his pants. Spock's hips began to move in sync with her movements and his head fell forward into the valley of her breasts. Nyota arched her back towards him and hummed around his finger as his tongue trailed wetly across her skin.

Spock's free hand came up to tug the fabric of her bra aside and his lips immediately fastened on the pert nub of her nipple. She groaned as he opened his mouth wide and pressed the flat of his tongue against her, sucking the soft mound of her breast into his mouth. Her teeth clamped down a little harder on his fingers as his own scraped torturously over her skin to tug on her nipple, little sparks of sensation shooting down her body to pool between her legs. As he repeated the process on her other breast, she let his fingers slide out of her mouth with a wet pop before pressing her tongue against his palm in a long, wet lick. Spock's hand splayed across her face and he raised his head to watch her expression as he trailed his fingers across her cheekbones, over her jaw and down her neck. She moaned at the strange sensation that seeped through her skin at his caress, her face tingling with the promise of what was to come. For now however, Spock had other ideas.

His hands moved around her back to unclasp her bra and as he pulled it down her arms, his eyes fixed immediately on her breasts. His hands moved to cup her and she groaned as he gently squeezed them, trapping her nipples in the V of his fingers and tugging them gently. Nyota leaned forward and pressed her lips against his once more, her tongue insinuating itself into his mouth. Spock mumbled something unintelligible and sucked on her tongue before his own probed deeply into her mouth. Nyota moaned and closed her eyes, kissing him back with equal fervour. His hands continued to massage her breasts as their tongues entwined, the wet smack of their lips doing funny things to her body. Meanwhile her hands were fumbling with the fly of his pants, tugging the fabric aside and sliding down to run her palm up and down the hot hard length of his erection. Spock's hips bucked into her hand and they moaned in unison as she looped her fingers loosely around him to stroke up and down lazily. Her pussy clenched at the memory of him inside of her, his cock thick and heavy in her hand. Spock let out a grunt of approval but a moment later he reached up to clasp her face in his hands. She pouted as he pushed her gently back against the couch before reaching down to bend her knees up and apart. Nyota hummed as his hands slid up her thighs, massaging her firmly. As he approached her underwear the pads of his thumbs brushed against the damp scrap of fabric covering her sex. She whimpered and her hips bucked towards his touch. He let out another growl and the sound made her insides clench, her clit throbbing mercilessly between her legs.

Spock broke their kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, his dark eyes unnerving in their closeness. Nyota panted and stared right back, feeling like she could sink right into him, feeling like she wanted to sink into him but it seemed tonight he had a more conventional encounter in mind although she had to confess, there nothing conventional in the sensations his touch was eliciting. When his hand slipped down the waistband of her underwear to probe between the dark thatch of curls, she shuddered and her hands flew up to clutch his biceps. She closed her eyes, twisting her hips and letting out a needy little mewling sound as he found what he was looking for. Spock hummed in approval, as the pad of his finger began to circle her clit over and over and over.

"Your body is so warm" he murmured and she shuddered at the sound of his voice, wriggling her hips as he shoved her underwear down. She shifted, scrabbling against the cushions and kicking the offending scrap away. Spock pushed her knees back up and apart, one long finger pressing deep inside her. "So soft," he breathed and she moaned, sucking his lip between her own and gnawing on his plump lower lip.

"Spock Spock Spock," she chanted, stroking up and down his shoulders as another finger joined the first and he began to move them gently back and forth, twisting his wrist while his thumb brushed her clit in agonizing strokes. "Oh god oh god," she gasped, reaching up and grabbing the back of his neck, her nails scratching his skin as she clutched at the arm of the sofa with her free hand for support. Babbling unintelligibly, she ground her hips against his hand, thrusting in time with every plunge of his fingers into her body. Spock watched with wide eyes, enthralled by every sound she made and every clench of her muscles around his fingers. Every time her sex slid against his hand, a loud wet smack followed and the sound was so obscene her eyes rolled back in her head. Spock was panting hard and he moved his hand more earnestly before the compulsion to taste her became to strong and he shoved her back roughly against the cushions. Stooping, he pressed his palms against her thighs and spread them wider before trailing his tongue up from the sopping ridge of her perineum across her pussy and sucking her clit between his lips. Nyota buried her hands in his hair and scratched her nails hard against his scalp, eliciting a growl from deep within his chest. Spurred on, Spock continued his assault, letting his teeth scrape gently over her clit before pressing his tongue into her. Her face screwed up in agony and she sobbed, tugging hard on his hair.

"Oh please please please," she babbled and he could not refuse her. The feral look on his face made her heart constrict and she gasped as he pulled her suddenly hard against his chest. "Yes yes yes," she gasped, kissing him hungrily. Spock dragged her closer and mouthed her jaw bone with his teeth and clasping the back of her head as the blunt head of his erection pressed between her legs. Nyota held on tight as it slipped against her sex before he surged forward and into her with one long thrust. Spock growled as he slid deep inside her throbbing sex, her legs gripping hard as they wrapped around his waist. Nyota's eyes screwed up and she whimpered pathetically, the sensation of his thick cock filling her stealing her breath and causing the tattered fragments of coherent thought to flee. She held on for dear life as he began to roll his hips, taking up a hard and fast rhythm that was sure to send her out of her mind. Nyota sucked on his lips, planting an inelegant sloppy kiss on his face that seemed to make him even more crazy. Spock buried his fingers in her hair and forced her to meet his gaze and she shuddered as her eyes met his. He held her there, his hands like vices on her head so that she couldn't look away and she sobbed at the intensity of his stare, the points of his ears just visible in the peripheries of her vision and he drove into her over and over. She choked, her whole body felt like it was on fire and she trembled uncontrollably, unable to catch her breath. Her hands flailed so she dug her nails in hard, scratching deep along his back as her grip faltered. Spock snarled in pleasure, his hips jerking uncontrollably against her, his movements becoming more and more forceful and erratic with each thrust.

She couldn't handle it, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't beg him to stop or to plead with him not to. She was utterly overwhelmed, reduced to a seething throbbing mass of lust, nothing but a rutting animal and it was...amazing. Spock choked, exhaling a shuddering, rasping breath and his grip on her faltered a little, his fingers dragging inelegantly across her cheek.

"Yessss," she hissed and closed her eyes tight at the familiar tingle of his mind seeking hers and when it found her, they were both completely, utterly consumed by it.


	12. Chapter 12

Nyota paced up and down the room, her arms crossed and a fierce scowl on her face. Spock had cautioned her on her temper on several occasions and she struggled now to remain calm, to find her center like had taught her. If there was ever a time when she needed to be calm, to think logically this was it but likewise she could not remember ever being so angry. She was seething, white hot rage coursing through her veins and she pressed her the flat of her palms against the wall, leaning her forehead against the cold tile as she took deep slow breaths.

"You have no authority to keep me here," she stated, her demeanour as frosty as a Vulcan. Seated opposite her was a man she guessed to be in his mid thirties, dressed in the uniform of the security service. His face was tired but he was civil enough and Nyota had to give him credit for being less antagonistic than his colleagues.

"On the contrary, Miss Uhura," he said, meeting her eye. "You are a witness to one crime and possibly a party to another." Nyota uncrossed her arms and then crossed them again, narrowing her eyes at him.

"And what crime am I supposed to have committed?" she drawled icily. The officer before her sighed and picked up a PADD.

"Well now that depends on you doesn't it?" he said, shuffling forward a little and placing his forearms on the table, his eyes scanning the display before him. "The guard says he discovered you in the arms of the Vulcan. He says he was engaging some suspicious activity," he continued and she snorted. He met her eyes and she silently chastised herself for her lack of control. Spock would not be impressed.

"There was nothing suspicious about it," she stated, drumming her fingernails on the tabletop. His brows went up a little way.

"So you were willingly engaging in lewd behaviour? Is that what you're saying?" Nyota glared into the officer's eyes.

"We were not engaging in lewd behaviour," she spat. "Unless you consider a hug lewd conduct?" she added sarcastically. The officer tilted his head to one side.

"I understand there was a little more to it than that," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"There was nothing of the sort," Nyota said, trying to suppress her irritation and failing.

"Look, Miss Uhura, I understand your anger but you need to see this from my perspective." Nyota let out a little huff of breath and rolled her eyes, pouting her lips and bouncing her knee up and down. "A woman like you," he continued, his eyes flicking up and down her body. "Alone with an alien like that and apparently not entirely in control of your faculties. Surely you can understand why the guard was concerned."

"I understand," she growled. "That he is a xenophobic asshole." The officer let out a tired sigh.

"Alright, alright," he said after a minute. "Well why don't you tell me what was happening." Nyota clenched her jaw, anger and shame coursing through her. Did he really expect her to explain? As if she hadn't been subjected to enough indignity for one evening.

Protesting vehemently, she had been unceremoniously dragged into the back of a transport by the very same man who'd just shot Spock with a phaser. She pressed her nose against the opaque mesh window and sobbed at the vague outline of his body on the ground. When they'd brought her to the facility she'd been so out of her mind they'd shot her up with a sedative and she was still reeling with the violation of it all.

"We're not sure you're quite yourself, mam," the doctor had said, speaking to her like she was a wild animal in need of soothing.

"I am perfectly myself," she'd snarled, shoving her hands away as she'd waved a scanner over her.

"Mam, I need to examine you," she'd tried to explain but she was unwilling to hear it.

"What do you need to examine me for?" she growled. "Evidence of assault?!" The doctor licked her lips and lowered her hands, looking Nyota right in the eye.

"I know this must be difficult for you," she said soothingly. "But there's no need to be afraid. I won't do anything you don't want me to but you need to tell me if he touched you inappropriately." Nyota felt sick. As if he would ever touch her inappropriately? As if he'd ever do anything to hurt her? She grimaced at the prick of the hypo on her neck and tried in futility to stay awake before she slumped inelegantly back against the biobed.

"I feel...strange," she murmured. Spock nuzzled her forehead with his chin, his hand stroking through her hair and gently down her arm.

"Emotional transference is an effect of the mind meld," he mumbled against her skin. She hummed.

"Is...when you say emotion," she said cautiously. "Is that because you're half Human?" Spock shifted and held her close.

"Maybe," he said quietly. "Vulcans are capable of emotion but they...we...choose not to show them." She nodded against his shoulder and remained silent. "For us...for Vulcans...emotion can be...overwhelming. We must control them or...or they will control us." Nyota licked her lips and ran her fingertip through the fuzz of hair across his chest.

"So...what you feel, is it...Human or is it Vulcan?" she asked in a timid voice. Spock took a deep breath and hesitated.

"I...do not know, I do not fully understand," he explained after a minute. "What I am..." His voice wavered and she squeezed him tight. "I think...I feel...it is not logical but...I wonder sometimes. I am not Human but I am not completely Vulcan. If I were I would not..." Nyota screwed her eyes up and hid her face in his neck.

"Don't," she whispered, suddenly terribly afraid of what he might say. He closed his eyes and clasped his palm across the crown of her head.

"I do not regret this," he told her. "I can not and I will not regret...you." She held her breath and clung onto him for dear life. A moment later he shifted and rolled her onto her back and when he pulled away from her, she drew her knees up under her chin and hugged her legs. She felt suddenly very cold and very lonely, watching with sad eyes as he got up from the bed and moved across the room. When he returned a minute later he was carrying a small box in his hand. "I...wish for you to have this," he explained gently, sitting close beside her and opening the box. He set it on his palm and held the box out towards her. Nyota peered inside and her mouth fell open.

"Spock...I...this is your pin," she said, looking up at him.

"I had it made into a pendant," he said, reaching his finger into the box and pulling out a fine chain on which hung the shimmering Vulcan IDIC pin he wore with his dress uniform. Nyota shook her head.

"I...I can't accept that, it's ….it's too precious," she said, clutching her hand to her chest as her heart leapt into her mouth. Spock's jaw quivered ever so slightly.

"You must...you must accept it," he explained, opening the dainty clasp and leaning forward to hang it around her neck. In spite of her protest Nyota lifted her hair out of the way as he fastened it and laid it delicately against her skin. She reached down and picked up the IDIC, running the pad of her thumb over the stone, a tear pricking her eye.

"Spock," she choked. He licked his lips and stared at the pendant in her hand.

"I wish for you to have a token...for you to understand," he said in a slow measured voice. "Before I met you I was...unwilling to feel. I was ashamed of it." Nyota met his eyes and reached up to cup his jaw in her hand. "I am not ashamed any more."

"I...I..." she stammered and Spock shook his head, shushing her with a gentle finger to her lips.

"You do not need to say anything," he told her softly. "Just promise that you will always wear this."

Nyota nodded furiously, a tear escaping her eye to roll down her cheek and Spock caught it on his knuckle, staring at it for a long moment with a look of confusion on his face. Nyota climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I promise," she breathed and he held her even tighter.

She clenched her jaw and willed herself not to cry now. The officer across the table leaned forward a little closer and when he spoke it was in a gentle, sympathetic tone.

"Look Miss Uhura, I can't change the fact that your...companion...is in trouble," he began. "He resisted arrest and assaulted an officer." Nyota shook her head.

"This is harassment," she said, working her jaw back and forth and blinking away a tear that pricked her eye. "We are just here on vacation and you...your colleagues...have...have..." she choked and fell silent. The officer let out a long breath and smacked his lips, sitting back and scrolling through the PADD in his hand.

"Right, well let me tell you what I see," he said, his voice hard. "I see a very pretty girl and her alien boyfriend away on a romantic weekend." Nyota glared at him. "I have no problem with that but you know what your employers are going to see when they hear of this and believe me, there is very little at this point that I can do to stop it. They're going to see one of their officers and his subordinate away for a dirty weekend."

"That Starfleet officer is a decorated serviceman who puts himself on the line for you, for this planet," she sneered. The officer swallowed and raised a brow.

"I think you need to help me to help you Lieutenant," he said after a moment. "You don't have to give up your career over this. If he...influenced...you..."

Nyota thought she was actually going to be sick. Her heart thumped erratically in her chest, her mind raced and her palms were sweating. Think, Nyota, think. She chewed her lip and fiddled with the chain around her neck, running the pad of her finger across the gemstone setting. She traced her finger along the ridges that ran down from the stone, flaring out to form a triangle in a circle. She swallowed.

"I think you better let me have my call," she said acidly, fixing the officer with a pointed stare. He pursed his lips and held her eyes for a long moment.

"As you wish," he said eventually, pushing up from the table and leaving her alone once more.


	13. Chapter 13

Spock stood in front of the mirror and smoothed his palms across his coat, flicking the glittering IDIC pin for a second before deciding that his appearance was satisfactory and turning out of the bathroom.

"You look so good in full dress," Nyota told him, shaking her head gently from side to side as she ran her gaze up and down him. Spock quirked his brow and regarded her with some scepticism.

"I find this attire...illogical," he told her, tugging at his collar. She chuckled and stepped closer, smoothing her hands across his shoulders.

"You're probably right," she agreed, reaching up on tip toes to press a brief kiss on his lips. She chewed her lip and ran her palms down his chest. "Still, I'm very impressed. This..." she flicked at a scrap of ribbon that was pinned to his chest, a commendation he'd received when serving under Captain Pike. "How heroic!" Spock scowled ever so slightly.

"Not particularly," he drawled but she wasn't paying attention, smoothing her finger instead over the pin he wore beside the Starfleet decoration.

"What's this?" she asked sweetly and he pursed his lips.

"It is the Kol-ut-Shan," he explained and she nodded. "It signifies the way the countless variables in the Universe combine to create meaning." Nyota smiled.

"That's lovely," she told him, reaching down and clasping his fingers lightly. "And it's pretty too."

Spock reached down and pressed his lips to hers. "As are you."

Nyota blushed and screwed her eyes up, unable to help the broad smile that spread broke out across her face. "Oh stop it," she chided, squirming away from him as he tried to kiss her again until eventually she gave in.

"I do not care to attend this...function," Spock complained when they broke apart, almost spitting the word as though it were a curse and pressing his cheek against hers. Nyota pouted and pulled back a way, rubbing her hand across his jaw.

"Well, I'll be there to keep you company at least," she said soothingly. "Think of it this way, it's the one time we can legitimately socialize!" Spock's lip twitched a little and his nostrils flared.

"It is regrettable that we must maintain this...charade," he groused, his expression like a sulking child. Nyota rubbed her lips together and let out a little sigh, before reaching up to kiss him again. Spock wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back intently and it seemed to Nyota that he had little intention of stopping.

"We have to go," she said, attempting to delicately extricate herself from his embrace but Spock pulled her close again. "The Admiral will be waiting for us," she told him as he clutched her hips and backed her against the wall. "Spock..." she said in a low tone and he growled in displeasure.

"This is unsatisfactory," he grumbled and she smiled, stroking her fingertip down his nose.

"Later," she promised, trailing her finger over hips lips and down his neck to run her hand across his chest. He narrowed his eyes at her as her hand moved lower to cup between his legs, tracking the swipe of her tongue over her lower lip as she squeezed firmly.

"Nyota," he moaned, grinding his crotch into her touch and she cackled before slipping out under his arm towards the front door.

"We're going to be late," she called. Spock scowled.

"Vulcans are not late."

He did not lie. Vulcans were rarely late unless they had a logical reason and being so logical Spock did not comment when the Admiral complimented the Lieutenant and remained equally silent when the Admiral then offered her his arm. He did not quite see the logic in her accepting it but again said nothing, performing a silent mediation instead and trailing mutely behind as the Admiral escorted her into the function room. Spock refused to acknowledge his conflict, considering it an example of all the reasons that Vulcans did not engage in such intrigues as the one he had concocted to bring her here tonight. The Admiral seemed to have his own intrigues in mind, making every effort to display her on his arm at every possible opportunity as though she was just a set of symmetrical facial features and female sex organs and not a competent officer with combat training and a kick that was a lot harder than her fragile stature might indicate. Spock blinked and let his mind wander.

"You leave yourself exposed," he drawled, looming over the cadet where she lay sprawled out on the mat before him. Cadet Uhura panted hard an narrowed her eyes at him, rolling over onto her front to push herself up on her knees. She rubbed her arm and scowled at him.

"Do you need to be quite so enthusiastic about taking me down?" she accused, sloping across the mat to take a drink of water. Around the hall dozens of other cadets stood in similar poses, sparring with their fellows or with training officers. Commander Spock was a hard task master but his Suus Mahna class was no less popular because of it. In her first year, Cadet Uhura had jumped at the chance to learn martial arts, thrilled at the prospect of knocking her smug older brother down when she returned home for Christmas. "He says I'm too much of a weed to be in Starfleet," the Cadet had explained as she added her name to the list outside his office.

Commander Spock was dubious of the logic behind her reasoning but accepted her into his class nonetheless. At that moment she was a little less thrilled, glugging down a long drink of water and glaring at him. Her hair was a mess and she was covered in sweat, her chest heaving and her eyes fierce – no doubt as a result of having been unceremoniously knocked on her ass for the last half an hour. The cadet was however undeterred, stating if she could take down a Vulcan her brother wouldn't stand a chance and Spock had to admit that was a logical enough proposition.

"So you wish to continue?" he asked, his dark eyes sparkling under the bright yellow strip lights that lined the roof of the gym. Nyota mopped her brow.

"I'm not a quitter," she said darkly and Spock answered it with a quirk of his brow. Smug bastard, Nyota thought setting down her water and prowling back towards the mat.

"Keep your arms up," he instructed. "Do not take your eyes off me."

"As if I could," she quipped, raising her arms and matching his movements as he began to circle the mat.

"You must anticipate the attack." A moment later he swooped forward to grab her and she dodged to one side, ducking and spinning on her heel. Nyota crouched low and swung her leg out hard, her foot connecting with the back of his knee and Spock teetered slightly. In a flash she rushed at him, knocking him down onto the ground and pressed her knee across his throat before pinning his arms beside his head. Commander Spock quirked that irritating brow again and she yelped as he rolled her over onto her back as though she were made of air.

"God damn you," she growled, her head impacting with the mat beneath her. The commander held her there for a second and she glared at him fiercely. He tilted his head to one side and after a second released his grip on her arms. Nyota grunted and grabbed at his neck to give him a pathetic mock nerve pinch. Spock quirked that bastard brow again.

"There are as yet no incidences of a Human being able to successfully master the Vulcan nerve pinch," he told her with just a hint of smugness. Cadet Uhura huffed an irritated breath and flopped back against the floor in defeat.

Spock was currently considering administering the nerve pinch to a member of the Andorian delegation. He did not like the way his antennae were twitching as he engaged Nyota in conversation. The Admiral was of course beaming with pride as she replied in her usual flawless Andorian, a skill which had previously impressed Commander Spock but which he currently found unfathomably irritating. The hubbub of chatter and the strains of music were uncomfortably loud to his Vulcan ears but he endured it with stoicism that would have made even the most logical Vulcan proud, if Vulcans ever condescended to such things. He was likewise determined to feel nothing as the Admiral took his pound of flesh and paraded them before the Vulcan delegation.

"Madame T'Pau," the Admiral said with a low bow before a wizened old Vulcan woman. "Ambassador," he added, turning towards her tall male companion. "I believe you are acquainted with Commander Spock," he said, gesturing at Spock with his hand.

"Vulcan honors us with your presence," Spock intoned, raising his hand in the familiar Vulcan salute. The Ambassador glanced him up and down for a long moment before turning and staring at Nyota.

"May I present Lieutenant Uhura, one of our most gifted graduates," the Admiral said pleasantly and with a hint of pride. Nyota to her credit was as placid as the Vulcans and raised her hand in the customary salute.

"I am honored to make your acquaintance," she said in perfect Vulcan. Her flawless accent and use of the appropriate honorific suffixes as she spoke did not go unnoticed.

"You speak our language well," the Ambassador observed and she bowed slightly.

"Thank you," she replied without emotion. The Ambassador raised a brow in a gesture that was unnervingly familiar although Nyota was not entirely sure why.

"It must be of benefit having a native speaker with whom to converse," he said and Nyota nodded.

"Commander Spock is an excellent teacher," she replied and the brow twitched again.

"A trait he inherits from his mother," the Ambassador commented and her mouth went suddenly very dry. Shit, she thought. The Admiral certainly was a canny old bastard and as for Spock, when she got her hands on him he was a dead man. Nyota was determined to let nothing show but when she turned to find the old woman staring at her with a searching gaze, she felt suddenly unbearably exposed.

"Spock you will walk with me," the Ambassador commanded and the Admiral gave Spock a look that seemed to say you will walk with him or you'll be scrubbing plasma conduits for the rest of your career. Spock said nothing and fell obediently into step beside his father, leaving Nyota and the Admiral standing before the old woman, a gaggle of Vulcan escorts loitering a little way away.

Mind control, Nyota thought childishly. She's using her mind control on me. It was the only reason she could think of as to why she could not tear her eyes away from the old woman's. She couldn't move, her feet felt like lead and she was overcome by an eerie sense of calm.

"The Ambassador's son is more like his father than the Ambassador realizes," T'Pau said eventually in a very obscure Vulcan dialect. Nyota was aware of the Admiral's eyes on her, his apprehension evident as he observed their exchange with unhappy ignorance.

"As I am unacquainted with the Ambassador I am unable to comment," Nyota replied in the very same dialect. If T'Pau was impressed she gave nothing away.

"But you are acquainted with his son and the son is like the father," T'Pau told her. "In this way you are acquainted with the Ambassador."

"I suppose I can see the logic in that statement," Nyota said, quelling her discomfort at the implication. T'Pau blinked.

"I am renowned for my ruthless application of logic," she told her. There was certainly something ruthless about this old woman Nyota mused although she could not quite say what. "It is just as well. As a woman I am endlessly coddled by the men in my family who believe they know what is best for me. I tell them my joints are old but my logic is sound."

"Men are like that," Nyota agreed and T'Pau's head tilted so slightly to one side that only a Vulcan would have noticed it, or maybe perhaps someone with a Vulcan lover.

"They are strange creatures," T'Pau observed. "Their wills are strong but their logic is flawed."

"I am sure they say the same about us," Nyota replied.

"They do," T'Pau replied sagely. "They believe their way is more logical than ours. Their passions override their logic and then they attempt to convince us that logic is their only passion."

"An intriguing paradox," Nyota commented evenly and T'Pau's brow quivered ever so slightly but to her credit it did not rise as Nyota had expected it to.

"Intriguing they are," T'Pau answered. Nyota considered this for a minute.

"And what about women?" she asked eventually. T'Pau nodded and shifted her cane a little way.

"Our logic is superior," she said with the vaguest hint of smugness.

"In what respect?" Nyota asked with genuine interest. T'Pau's eyes seemed to unfocus for a millisecond before that usual sharp gaze was back.

"Foolish is the man who comes between the mother sehlat and her cub," she replied and Nyota nodded but said nothing. "Your Admiral is eager to know what we speak of. I wonder what you will tell him," T'Pau said. Nyota pursed her lips for a moment.

"I will tell him you think he is very handsome," Nyota quipped and T'Pau's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"It would not be untrue," she replied and Nyota's mouth dropped open. "You may leave me now."

"Peace and Long Life, T'Pau of Vulcan," Nyota intoned with customary Vulcan formality.

"Live long and prosper, child," T'Pau replied, raising her hand in salute.

It was some time later that she found Spock, or rather that Spock found her. She'd managed to slip away from the Admiral and was loitering behind a potted shrub on the long balcony outside. Spock appeared at the far end and their eyes met for a brief moment before he turned towards her. Nyota stood up and crossing her arms over her chest, turning to look out over the edge of the balcony at the view beyond as he approached. He hovered beside her and when he said nothing she let out a little huff of irritation.

"I hope you are enjoying the reception Commander Spock," she said a tad icily and he quirked his brow.

"Not particularly," he drawled, his eyes flicking up and down her body. Nyota narrowed her eyes.

"So I get now why you didn't want to come," she said after a while. Spock pursed his lips and did not reply. She dropped her arms and exhaled loudly through her nose. "You could have..." she fell quiet as a small group of delegate passed by. "You could have told me your father was going to be here," she accused. Spock licked his lips.

"It did not seem...pertinent," he countered and she gave him a look of disbelief.

"Pertinent? What?" she chuffed. "Spock it would have been nice to have a little warning you know or was it your intention to make me look like an idiot?!"

"On the contrary, I understand the Vulcan delegation to have been quite impressed by you," he told her. "T'Pau rarely speaks to anyone unless it is expressly required." Nyota pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Uh huh," she muttered, glancing along the balcony at the other guests meandering about, sipping wine and talking in low voices.

"I am curious as to what you spoke of," he commented and she took a deep breath.

"I'm sure you are," she said acidly and he gave her a pointed look. She huffed again and crossed her arms before sitting back on the wall and uncrossing them again. "Alright, well she said how like your father you were and then some mumbo jumbo about her bad knees and sehlat cubs." Spock brow furrowed a little.

"Fascinating," he said with a hint of confusion. Nyota chewed her lip for a second.

"So what did your father have to say?" she asked after a moment. Spock took a slow breath.

"As anticipated he expressed his disapproval of my life choices," he explained in a carefully measured voice. Nyota felt a pang of sympathy.

"You never talk about your family," she said quietly. "I take it you don't get along." Spock considered this.

"Getting along is not considered the basis of the father-son relationship among Vulcans," he told her and she furrowed her brow a little.

"Oh," she chirped. Spock sucked his teeth loudly in a gesture that seemed suddenly very Human.

"It is...filial piety," Spock said with disinterest. "One's duty to one's family," he elaborated, peering over her shoulder into the dark night beyond. She stared at the IDIC pin on his chest and gripped the wall beneath her hands.

"I think I understand," she murmured. They stood in an awkward silence for a minute and when she finally looked up she saw the Admiral emerging from a door at the far end of the balcony.

"It seems the Admiral misses your company," Spock drawled in Vulcan and she glared up at him through her lashes.

"This was your idea, if you remember," she replied snarkily. Spock's nostrils flared.

"As I recall it was the intention for you to be my companion," he countered darkly as the Admiral began to make his way towards them.

"If you think I want to dance with him you're mistaken but it's not like you're going to ask me," she hissed also in Vulcan as the Admiral approached. "Unless you want to parade your Human girlfriend around in front of your family?"

"Here you are," Admiral Barnett said with a smile. Nyota stood up straight and managed a weak smile. "I was wondering where you'd got to Lieutenant, Commander," he said to them both. "So how do you like the party?"

Nyota cleared her throat. "It's...an experience, that's for sure," she said, dutifully shuffling towards him. Admiral Barnett chuckled.

"Kinda stuffy for my tastes but we do what we must," he said congenially and she gave him a genuine smile. He wasn't such a bad guy as all that and right now she was so annoyed with Spock, she'd dance with a Tellarite if it pissed him off. She tucked her arm into the Admiral's and didn't so much as glance at the sulking Vulcan they left behind as he lead her back inside.


	14. Chapter 14

Contrary to the belief of the attending physician, Spock was not entirely unconscious during his confinement in the medical bay of the security facility. He was in a deep state of trance while his body recovered from the initial shock of the phaser blast and unbeknownst to the doctor and the security detail, could hear every single word they said.

"...says he found him doing some weird Vulcan voodoo on her," a voice said. "She was out of her mind when we caught him."

"Actually my scans indicate he's only half Vulcan," another voice replied. The doctor, Spock presumed. "What a beautiful specimen. Fascinating."

"I hope you'll forgive me if I don't find indecent assault particularly fascinating doctor," the other voice said and then there was the sound of the door sliding open and then closed again and then silence.

Fascinating was not quite the word Spock would use but he had more important things on his mind at that moment than discussing the scientific endowments of his genetic make up. He focussed on Nyota, reaching with his mind to see if he could sense her. Vaguely he became aware of the familiar sensation of her mind but it was very distant. She was frightened, angry – no, more than angry, she was absolutely seething but she was not quite conscious either. He felt a pang of rage at the thought of what they might have done to her, at the entire situation but he must get control of himself. It was his lack of control that got them into this mess in the first place and it would be his mastery of it that got them out of it.

Gradually he opened his eyes, remaining utterly still on the bed as he glanced around the room. He peered down his nose and observed the binding across his chest, feeling a twinge of distaste at the implication that he was some kind of wild animal in need of restraint. He blinked and slowly titled his head to the side to see the doctor typing away on a console, her eyeballs fluttering over the text on the screen before her. Spock blinked and shifted more purposefully and the doctor looked up at him.

"Ah, you're awake," she said, rising to her feet. Spock met her eyes and raised his eyebrow at her and she tilted her head to one side, watching him with interest for a second. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and crossed the room to press her fingers against the panel. "The prisoner is awake," she intoned.

A moment later the door opened and two armed guards entered the room. Spock glanced at them with indifference and the doctor shrugged.

"A precaution," she explained. "The superintendent thinks you're going hypnotize me into letting you go," she said with a crooked smile.

"I do not intend to secure my freedom by means of such quackery," Spock drawled and the doctor stifled a flicker of amusement . Spock observed as she moved a little closer and opened a tricorder, waving it above him.

"Okay," she said. "Well, I don't know too much about Vulcan physiology but I know your heart rate and blood pressure are meant to be low so I'm thinking you're physically fine. Your brain scan is...off the chart but I guess we expect that."

Spock's brow twitched. "Yes one must account somehow for our diabolical powers of mind control," he said and she smiled in spite of herself.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, flipping the tricorder closed and leaning a little closer. Spock smacked his lips.

"I am perfectly fine," he told her. "My concern is for my companion." She chewed her lip and nodded.

"She's fine, she's safe," the doctor told him. "Listen Mr Spock," she continued. "My colleagues here have some questions they would like to ask you regarding the incident this evening..."

"I will not resist," Spock interrupted. "Although I would prefer to be vertical during my interrogation." The doctor nodded.

"Alright," she said and stepped back, pushing a button on the wall. The bed tilted slowly up to an almost standing position and when it stopped, one of the guards stepped forward to bind his hands before removing the restraint over his chest. Spock was compliant during the entire process, barely batting an eye at the phaser pointed at him and suppressing the urge to twist out of the guards rough hand as he hustled him out of the sick bay and into an interrogation room.

He sat there for a long while before anyone came to question him. To pass the time he sat cross legged on the bench and meditated. After a couple of hours a man approached the door and the guard lowered the force field for a minute as the two of them entered the cell. Spock dropped his feet to the floor and placed his hands on his knees, sitting ramrod straight and looking for all the world like a statue.

"So, Commander Spock," the officer began and Spock recognised his voice from earlier in the medical bay. "How are you feeling?" Spock turned and met his eyes.

"I am fine," he replied passively. The officer nodded his head and pursed his lips, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Good, good," he chuffed. "My colleague isn't doing quite so well. The one you assaulted earlier this evening." Spock blinked and stared into the middle distance as the officer flicked on the PADD in his hand. "Dislocated jaw, lacerations to his cheek, minor head injury and a concussion. Quite a number you pulled with one punch." Spock remained silent. "Must be that Vulcan strength," he quipped and Spock quirked a brow.

"It must be," he uttered.

"Of course, I don't imagine you need to use brute force on the ladies do you Commander," the officer continued. "For some reason the girls seem to like the pointy ears." Spock looked him right in the eye and saw the venom in his expression. "What were you doing with Miss Uhura on the peak?"

Spock took a deep breath. "Admiring the view," he said and the officer nodded, sucking his teeth loudly.

"Quite a view too," he commented. "How does it compare with the views on Vulcan?" Spock narrowed his eyes.

"I find this indirect style of questioning illogical," Spock told him the officers brows went up.

"Alright Commander, let's be logical then shall we?" he said, lifting the PADD and reading. "We have indecent assault,or maybe public indecency depending on your girlfriend, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer in the execution of his duties. I don't imagine any of this is going to look too good on your Starfleet record now do you?" Spock focussed on his breathing and straightened his spine. When he made no comment the officer scowled and dumped the PADD on the table in irritation. "Right okay, I want a statement from you. Your version of events from the time you got up this morning to the minute I walked into this room." Spock turned and looked him right in the eye.

"I believe I am entitled to counsel," Spock reminded him and the officer chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded.

"Alright," he uttered with distaste, plucking the PADD from the table and rising from the chair. The guard lowered the forcefield and they exited the room, leaving Spock alone once more. He blinked slowly before shuffling back on the bench and crossing his legs again. He must maintain control.

Time passed, at least two hours by Spock's reckoning and no counsel appeared. After a while he became aware of a heated conversation taking place down the hall and he strained to hear but it was too far away and he couldn't make out the words. Eventually the officer appeared again at the door, a fierce scowl painted across his face, his body language rife with agitation. Spock rose to his feet and watched as he entered the cell.

"Well Commander Spock it seems I've underestimated you," the officer drawled sarcastically. "I'd heard your kind had special powers but this, this is really something."

"I do not understand," Spock said, furrowing his brow and the officer licked his teeth before giving him a toothy grimace. He flicked on his PADD and held it up for Spock to see.

"This is your charge sheet," he explained. "Poof! All gone!" Spock quirked a brow at the man's odd hand gesture and glanced at the small screen before him before looking back at the officer. He clenched his jaw and stared at Spock for a long moment before nodding his head and taking a step back, gesturing at the door. "You're free to go, Commander," he sneered. Spock gave him a long hard look but then a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned his head to see a blissfully placid Vulcan face appear outside the door. Spock blinked and after a moment's hesitation, stepped towards him and out of the cell.

In silence they made their way down the hall, loitering at the processing station for a few minutes as Spock's possessions were returned to him by the disapproving guard. With typical Vulcan stoicism, Spock and his companion remained silent and ignored the pointed stares and whispers from the guards in the lobby although Spock was grateful for the distraction when a particularly rowdy drunk and disorderly was bundled in through the door. His companion escorted him out of the building towards a ground transport a short distance away and inside he found a bleary eyed looking Nyota, shivering on the back seat. She blinked and sucked her lip into her mouth as he sat beside her.

"Are you injured?" he asked gently and she shook her head.

"Are you?" she sniffed.

"I am fine," he told her and she nodded, sitting back in her seat and staring straight ahead as the transport began to move.

They sat in silence for journey back to their hotel and he was grateful for it. Whatever conversation they were going to have was best conducted in the privacy of their lodgings and Spock certainly didn't want to have it in from of their chaperone. When they arrived, the three of them trailed into the lobby and Spock escorted Nyota to the elevator, their companion waiting a short distance behind.

"Go to the room," Spock told her quietly but firmly. "I will join you shortly." Nyota nodded mutely and gave him a sad, wide eyed look as the doors slid closed.

Nyota was sitting on the couch staring out of the window when he arrived and at the sound of the door opening she rose to pad bare footed towards him. Spock hesitated just inside the door and looked at her for a long minute. She rubbed her lips together and swallowed hard, rubbing the pad of her thumb along the crease of her wrist and she seemed to him in that moment impossibly fragile in her wrinkled dress, her make up smeared around her eyes and her hair mussed.

"Spock," she said, so quietly it was barely audible even to his Vulcan ears. He stared transfixed at the movement of her finger on her hand. "Say something." He worked his jaw back and forth for a second.

"Are you unharmed?" he managed eventually, raising his eyes to look at her face and taking a few slow steps towards her. She nodded, clenching her jaw and willing herself not to cry as she moved a little closer.

"I'm okay," she whimpered. "Are you okay?" she choked and his eyes darted from side to side.

"I am physically unharmed," he assured her as she stepped closer. She ran her eyes up and down his body, raising her hand to the scorch mark on his coat. She reached forward with her finger but then drew it back nervously before reaching again and gently pressing her finger through the hole.

"They uh...they ruined your coat," she observed. Spock nodded and remained silent as she pressed her finger deeper through the hole to gently prod the bare skin of his chest underneath. "Do you have a...a bruise?" she asked and Spock blinked.

"I am uncertain," he told her and so she peeled back his coat to get a better look.

"Yeah you...you ah...you have a bruise," she rasped, her breath hitching and her face screwing up. She let out a stuttering breath and leaned her forehead against his chest before bursting into loud, sobbing tears. Spock hesitated for just a moment before slowly raising his arms and wrapping her in an embrace. "Oh god I was so afraid," she mumbled against his neck.

"It is over now," he assured her and she squeezed him tight for a second before pulling back a way.

"I didn't know what to do," she explained tearfully. "I...I couldn't let them just...ruin everything," she said, smacking her lips together and clearing her throat. "We didn't do anything wrong Spock."

He stared over her shoulder at the view of the city through the window, the dawn light glowing weakly on the buildings beyond.

"I am sure you did what seemed logical," he told her. She sniffed and stepped back a way out of his arms.

"What did your friend have to say?" she asked quietly, staring at his hands as they hung limply by his sides. Spock took a deep breath and raised his chin, straightening his spine.

"He asked me to consider the good name of my family and reminded me that my lack of self control is a source of shame to them," he stated as though he was reading a list of ingredients off the back of a box. Nyota rubbed her lips together and took a slow breath.

"He means really, that I am a source of shame," she added quietly. Spock blinked and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"I feel soiled Nyota," he murmured and she glanced at him for a long minute and nodded.

"I uh...I'll run a bath," she managed with some difficulty, starting briskly for the bathroom. Inside she stuffed the plug into the tub and yanked the faucet hard, the water pummelling the bottom of the bath with a hard drumming sound. As she stood over the water, her breath hitched and her face screwed up and she let out a rasping kind of half sob as she tried not to cry and failed. A moment later a gentle hand clasped her arm and she turned her face away. Spock reached his arm around her and turned her to face him but she would not meet his eyes, tears streaming down her face as steam billowed around the room and wafted out of the door.

"I am not ashamed, Nyota," he told her earnestly and she sobbed loudly as he pulled her close. "I am not ashamed of you," he repeated, burying his face in her hair and clasping the back of her head in his hand. Her hands came up to clutch at his shirt as he pulled her in for a kiss, digging her nails in and gripping on for dear life.

"I love you," she uttered against his lips. "I love you." Spock stroked his hand through her hair for a minute before gripping her shoulders firmly and taking a ragged breath. She pressed her lips against him more intently and his breath hitched for a second before he reached up and yanked at the straps on her dress. Nyota shoved at his clothes, pushing them back over his shoulders as he ripped her dress and tore it away from her body. She gasped as he pressed her back against the sink, her head bumping the mirror but she didn't care, just opened her legs to cradle him against her hips and scratched her nails down the back of his neck as he kissed her.


	15. Chapter 15

If Nyota was attempting to punish him Spock considered the manner in which she was doing so to be highly improper. He sat in the back of the ground transport stewing in a way only a Vulcan could as he witnessed her shameless flirting with the Admiral. In Nyota's defence it could only be considered shameless by Spock's impossibly strict Vulcan standards but then he was himself hardly the epitome of Vulcan moral worthiness and so she figured he deserved it. Spock could not decide what irritated him more - her ability to poke holes in his logic or the fact that he had been forced to endure an entire evening observing his lover being mauled by other men and worse, that the entire charade had played out in front of his own father.

"This situation is entirely of your own making," Nyota had hissed at him before the Admiral hustled her into the back of the transport. Spock did not have time to express his opinion that her logic was flawed as it was in fact she who had accepted the Admiral's offer to escort them back to the Academy and sat instead glaring out of the window as the city rolled by outside.

If he had been Human it might have been said that Spock was not happy that the transport stopped at his quarters first and that he was even less happy when it had whizzed away along the road taking Nyota with it. He clenched and unclenched his fists, his nostrils flaring as he took a deep breath before setting a brisk pace along the empty path towards her residence. He paced around outside for a while, his communicator clenched tightly in his hand as he paged her without response. He heaved a breath and clenched his jaw before stomping in through the door. Discretion was the last thing on his mind as he stood in her lobby jabbing the console to buzz her room. When there was no answer he tried again and again until eventually an irritated green face responded. His brows went up for just a second before they went back down again.

"Um, I'm sorry Commander but she's not here," Gaila explained awkwardly. Spock ground his teeth and glanced from side to side. "Wasn't she with you?" Before he could answer the click clack of heels across the lobby floor reached his ears and he turned to see Nyota strutting towards the elevator. When she saw him her eyes went wide.

"Thank you for your assistance," he said hurriedly before ending the call abruptly and leaving a very confused Orion shaking her head upstairs.

"What are you doing?" Nyota rasped in Vulcan, dropping her eyes to the floor as a couple of cadets bundled out of the lounge towards the elevator. Spock narrowed his eyes at her.

"I might ask you the same thing," he growled and her jaw dropped.

"Are you out of your mind?" she gasped and he raised his chin.

"It is a distinct possibility," he drawled stepping towards her. Nyota raised her hands and shook her head in disbelief.

"I am going to pretend that you're not here," she told him with a jerk of her chin, spinning on her heel and walking towards the stairs.

"It was my understanding that you would return to my abode," he commented following her through the doors. Nyota's mouth fell open.

"You think I even want to look at you right now?" she exclaimed, stopping on the stairs and turning to glare at him. Spock glared right back and the look in his eyes was unnerving.

"You have hardly looked at me all evening," he sneered and she gasped. Spock exhaled a very loud breath through his nose and trotted up the few steps to stand in front of her. "You will tell me what has transpired since you left me at my quarters," he commanded and she shook her head.

"Excuse me?" she stuttered in disbelief. Spock narrowed his eyes.

"I can smell him all over you," he hissed and her eyes went wide.

"How dare you? How dare you accuse me of that!"

"You. Are. Mine," he growled, his fingers going white as he clutched the handrail in an inhuman grip.

"Oh my god," she breathed, backing away up the stairs. "You...you barbarian! You don't own me! This entire fiasco was your idea in the first place!" she uttered in disbelief. Spock took a step forward and followed, his eyes boring into her with an utterly feral expression. "What is wrong with you?" she rasped, although deep down on some primitive visceral level she already knew.

The first time Spock got...carried away... as she referred to it, Nyota started to get a better understanding as to why Vulcans were so precious about their emotions. Spock was making tea for them in his quarters while she poked around his stuff, running her finger over the spines of old Vulcan books and absently strumming the strings on his lyre. He turned and peered over his shoulder at her with that brow of his and she smirked, taking the sculpted lines of his torso that peeked out from under his robe. It was a long flowing thing that seemed a little less logical than she might have expected of a Vulcan tailor – and tailored it was. Apart from his Starfleet uniform, Spock's wardrobe did not seem to contain any of the usual mass produced crap that hers did, not that she didn't like nice clothes but she was a student and had other things on her mind than fashion - like passing her elementary quantum mechanics course which was damned hard work for someone who'd only ever really studied languages. Spock explained that Vulcans preserved a culture of artisans with the view that if they did not maintain the ancient skills then they would lose their identity. She was not about to complain if it produced such utterly fabulous garments as the silky green thing that hung about his shoulders. He'd offered it to her but his quarters were always so warm that she was too hot and anyway Spock really did not seem to mind her wandering in the nude.

"What are these?" she cooed, reaching forward and plucking two huge shimmering green feathers out of a vase in the corner of his room. Spock turned and gave her an innocent look.

"They were a gift," he replied and she made a face.

"They don't seem very...logical," she said, tickling her nose with one.

"Perhaps not but it seemed bad form to dispose of them," he explained, mixing the tea with a dainty Vulcan whisk.

"They're kinda girly Spock," she observed. "Present from an admirer?" Spock's nose twitched.

"An ornithologist on Vega colony," he told her, setting down the whisk. "When I was serving under Captain Pike we assisted the colonists during an epidemic. The professor wished to express her gratitude for my efforts." Nyota nodded and turned the feathers over to inspect them more closely.

"I'm not sure that's all she was trying to express," she quipped and Spock's brow furrowed a little. "Not that I can blame her."

"Her attentions were not reciprocated," he informed her, picking up his bowl and sipping his tea. Nyota pouted a little and hid her face behind a feather.

"Of course," she crooned, peeking out at him from behind the fluffy green mass that obscured her eyes. Spock's gaze flicked up and down as she folded the other feather across her midriff in a show of false modesty. The effect was quite compelling and his brow rose of its own accord. Nyota chuckled and ruffled the feathers a little and Spock's head tilted to one side, his eyes fixed on her as she bent one knee slightly and swayed from side to side a little. At his response her eyes narrowed and she hummed before prancing across the carpet towards him and tickling his nose with one of the feathers. Spock twitched and blinked, wrinkling his nose and Nyota could not suppress the chuckle that erupted out of her chest.

"You find this amusing?" he queried with an odd look on his face and she grinned, stepping back a little way and twirling around, hiding her most appealing sexual features behind the feathers as she went.

"Aren't you amused?" she cooed and he turned to watch as she started to slink across the carpet towards the couch with a suggestive look on her face. Spock dumped his teacup down on the counter a little more forcefully than she expected and her brow went up. "Fascinating," she murmured, leaning over the back of the couch in a position that Spock might have described as extremely alluring, if he was capable of speech at that moment. Nyota blinked slowly and slid down onto the cushions, her legs sprawling up to hang over the back of the couch. As she twisted her neck to get a better look at him, her hair fell loose from behind her shoulder and Spock stared transfixed at her. Her eyes fell to the sizeable green tinged protrusion that stuck out from his robe and she chewed her lip for a second. "Come here," she said with a breathy sigh and he immediately complied, hovering over her with a deranged look on his face and his fists clenched by his sides.

"Hmmmm," she chuffed, reaching up to run the sole of her foot across his stomach, poking her toe under the hem of his robe. Spock's hand immediately fastened on her ankle and she pulled her foot back a way. "Uh uh uh," she chided, reaching out with a feather and pressing it against his chest. "Don't. Move."

Spock glowered at her and Nyota wasn't quite sure whether his expression indicated that he wanted to fuck her or to kill her. Grinning wickedly, she languidly rubbed her thighs together and twisted her hips a little way before slowly, slowly parting her legs. Spock's eyes immediately fell to her exposed sex and she didn't miss the way his jaw clenched. She let the feathers fall to the floor and chewing her lower lip, groaned suggestively as she ran her palms across her body. Spock took a step towards her and she halted him with a foot to the crotch, the hard length of his erection pressing against the arch of her foot. "No," she told him, massaging her breast and tugging on her nipple a little. "You can't touch me."

Spock's chest heaved and his nostrils flared as he expelled a loud breath of displeasure. His eyes tracked the path of her other hand as it wound across her body to snake between her legs and his mouth fell open as he watched her touch herself, her finger swirling in slow circles over that little spot that made his fingers itch whenever he thought about it. He let out a little grunting breath as her other hand came down to join the first, her fingers slipping inside her body. Nyota let out a needy little moan and her back arched, her breasts jutting upwards to torment him. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed her ankle and dug his fingers into her skin, grinding his erection against the sole of her foot. Of its own volition his hand came up and he began to stroke himself – she'd said he couldn't touch her but she never said he couldn't touch himself. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him, her mouth forming a little O as she moaned in approval.

"Oh yes," she murmured, her eyes falling closed and her hips jerking upwards into her own hand. Her breathing became more labored and his hand moved faster, harder as she stroked herself more earnestly and just as he thought he was going to lose his mind, she pulled her foot away and reached for him. Spock's hands flew to her shoulders as her mouth closed around the wide head of his erection and he growled, her tongue swirling hotly over his aching flesh. He buried his fingers in her hair and groaned loudly, his eyes rolling back in head with pleasure. When she pulled away from him he dragged her up by the scruff of her neck to kiss her hard on the mouth, his fingers digging into her thigh as he tried to hook her leg over his hip. Nyota gasped and pulled her lips away, placing her palms on his chest and pushing him back. He reached for her again but she slipped out of his arms and took a step back, a wicked look on her face. He moved towards her but she took another step back and then another, towards the bedroom but it was too far and he couldn't wait. She let out a yelp as he spun her around and shoved her down roughly over the back of the couch, clawing ineffectually as she tried to get purchase. A strong hand pressed between her shoulder blades and her breath escaped her with an oof, his other hand grabbing her hip to hoist her backside into the air and then his hips were against her, surging forward as he slid his hard length into her in one forceful, ragged thrust.

Nyota whimpered, her face screwing up as he filled her, her whole body jerking forward with the force of it. Her arms flailed but then he was leaning across her, pinning her wrists in place with one hand as the other dug into her hip. Without preamble he began to thrust into her hard and fast, his teeth digging into her shoulder hard enough to hurt and she cried out. Spock was like nothing she'd ever seen before, even in their most intense encounters he was never this unhinged, a quivering snarling animal, rutting against her like a jackhammer. Her head spun and she choked, gasping for breath and it was not that she didn't want it or that she didn't like it only that for the first time she actually wondered if he was going to split her right in two. Before she could really think about it too much, his hand was on her face and he was coming and so she was coming too. Gasping and shuddering, her hair obscuring her vision, she twisted in his arms trying to get a look at his face, his breath loud in her ear but then he was hoisting her up in his arms, his still rigid sex digging into her back as he dragged her off the couch and down onto the floor

"You enjoy antagonizing me" Spock uttered bitterly, his voice echoing around the stairwell and his eyes narrowing to slits.

Nyota stared at him agog for a second before shaking her head and turning abruptly to flounce away up the stairs. Spock reached forward to grab hold of her arm and she spun around and slapped him hard. Spock's eyes flashed as a pang of arousal coursed through his body. He growled and attempted to pull her into his arms but she shoved him and gravity dragged him backwards. He staggered back down the stairs and she took advantage of his distraction to flee upwards to the safety of her room.

Spock grabbed the handrail and pursued her, taking two steps at a time but as he reached the doorway through which she had just escaped into the corridor beyond, his eyes locked on the security camera and he froze. His eyes darted from side to side and he blinked, coming back to himself and realizing the utter base savagery of his behavior, he winced. His chest seemed to compress suddenly and he felt dizzy, his mind racing as he considered what had transpired. She was right, he was out of his mind. His father knew, T'Pau knew and now the Orion knew too and if he didn't get out right now everybody would know and then they really would be in trouble.

Stepping outside, Spock took several deep breaths, the cool night air helping him to center himself somewhat but when his sharp ears picked up the familiar titter of feminine voices his head snapped around towards the sound. Still a little agitated, he stalked along the front of the building and glancing up at an open window, he saw Nyota and her Orion room mate engaged in heated conversation.

"Oh my god, he's out there!" the Orion exclaimed with excitement and Nyota turned to lock eyes with him. Her brow furrowed and she scowled fiercely before slamming the window closed and lowering the blind. Spock huffed, crossed him arms over his chest and stood there for a long time until eventually there was the slightest movement from behind the blinds and a moment later his communicator trilled from inside his pocket.

"Go. Away," Nyota growled in Vulcan.

"I will not," Spock replied. He heard her indignant huff down the comm.

"I'm not coming down," she said definitively.

"You will have to leave at some point. I will wait," he told her.

"Fine. Stay out there all night," she told him. Spock licked his lips.

"Vulcans are a very patient race," he told her smugly.


	16. Chapter 16

If she had to compile a list of reasons of why it was great to be in a relationship with a Vulcan, Nyota would have most definitely without hesitation have listed Neuropressure at the top. She let a slow breath and smiled, snuggling her face against the bedsheet and drifting in a blissful haze. Glorious, wonderful Neuropressure. It was the middle of the night and they were tucked away in the privacy of his quarters, a lonely meditation candle flickering beside the bed while Spock hovered above her doing the most amazing things to her with his fingers. She, exhausted from the intensive athleticism required for performing coitus with aforementioned Vulcan, could do nothing more than flop in a boneless heap while he, with his inhuman appetite for said act, was still twitching with an excess of unresolved sexual energy. Nyota was more than happy to lie back and let him paw her and he was content for the continuing opportunity for legitimate lechery.

"Uh,...god," she mumbled against the mattress as his fingers slid upwards along the length her spine before working over her shoulders and down the length of her arm. Gently he lifted her arm away from her body to massage her tricep and when his fingers brushed against her armpit she hissed. "Yes, oh god, yes there," she growled and he quirked a brow.

"Turn over," he commanded softly and she took a deep breath before weakly pushing up on her arms and collapsing down again on her back.

"Who knew that would feel...so good," she sighed as he leaned over her and ran his palms down the insides of her arms and across her armpits down over her breasts and back again. Spock hummed in agreement and when she opened her eyes he was watching her with a gentle gaze. Nyota smiled at him and reached up to cup his head in her hands, mimicking the motion of his fingers with her own. Spock's closed his eyes and leaned into her touch as she stroked his ears. She loved that, she thought it was the most adorable thing ever that Vulcan's liked having their ears stroked and wondered if they knew how much Humans longed to stroke them. She supposed at least one Vulcan must know or Spock would not be there with her now, the beautiful product of cosmic coincidence – or was it design? She wasn't sure about anything so lofty as all that and before she could think about it any further, she became aware of a familiar firmness prodding her hip. Spock didn't seem particularly bothered by it, she observed as she peered up at him. He was too busy nuzzling his face into her palm and she half expected him to start purring any second. When he opened his eyes he tilted his head to one side and gave her a gentle, quizzical look.

"Nyota?"

"Come here," she implored, opening her arms and her legs and wrapping them around him as he shuffled closer. She shifted beneath him and when his hard length brushed against her centre she raised her hips a little in encouragement. Spock slipped inside her and she let out satisfied sigh as he began to rock slowly, stroking her hands up and down his back. When he brushed his hand over her face she gently reached up and pushed it away. Spock opened his eyes and looked at her with a slight furrow in his brow but she just smiled at him softly. "It's alright," she murmured. "I just want to watch you."

"I want to share with you," he mumbled and she smiled more broadly.

"You do," she told him, stroking her fingertips across his temples. "But I...I want this to be just for you." He blinked in confusion and so she reached up and pulled him closer. Spock tucked his face into the crook of her neck and exhaled a long contented sigh. Nyota pressed her lips to his forehead and stroked her hands through his hair. "That feels so nice," she told him quietly and he seemed to snuggle even closer. "I like being here with you like this," she continued breathlessly.

"Yesss," he hissed, his face screwing up with pleasure. Nyota moaned in encouragement and closed her eyes as he cautiously rocked against her, his movements so gentle it was almost heartbreaking.

"Do you know how special you are?" she whispered.

"I...I..." he rasped but she shushed him gently.

"It's okay," she crooned, holding him tight and stroking up and down his back.

They lay like that for a long time, Nyota whispering sweet nothings in his ear, spurring him on as his movements became more purposeful until eventually his spine arched like a bow and he went stiff. His breath was hot as he growled his pleasure in her ear and she sighed with contentment as he went limp in her arms.

Afterwards they lay on their fronts, peering at eachother with sleepy eyes. Nyota smiled at him and ran her finger idly up and down his bicep.

"Tell me your thoughts," he implored and she furrowed her brow a little.

"I was just wondering," she murmured.

"What were you wondering?" he mumbled back, his cheek squashed against the pillow. She blinked lazily and followed the path of her finger down his arm.

"Why people say such silly things about you," she told him. "About Vulcans." Spock looked at her sleepily.

"What things?" he croaked and she pursed her lips. She took a deep breath and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling as she considered her reply.

"That you get high on chocolate," she said after a moment. "That you secretly want to take over the galaxy." Spock chuffed a little breath and she glanced over to see his brow twitch where it lay trapped against the pillow. She rolled back over to face him. "This nonsense about never having sex, about only doing it once every seven years," she continued. "I just...oh I don't know, it's all so stupid." Spock swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing against the sheet.

"As you are aware, Vulcans can and do copulate more frequently than that," he told her in a low, rumbling tone although she could detect a faint hint of amusement in his voice.

"Don't I know it," she teased.

Spock hummed in acknowledgement, flicking his fingertip against her hip. "Although we are partial to the attributes of theobromine," he added. "That is not nonsense." Nyota chuckled. After a while Spock shifted and rolled onto his back, licking his lips and staring at the ceiling for a minute before he began to speak. "It seems an opportune moment to broach a delicate subject with you Nyota," he said and she glanced towards him.

"Hmmm, okay," she breathed, stretching her feet and yawning.

"It is not entirely inaccurate to say that Vulcans mate once every seven years," he said cautiously. Nyota adjusted the pillow beneath her.

"I'm not sure I follow," she told him gently, snuggling a little closer. Spock coughed again, his eyes darting around.

"I know we have only briefly discussed the future," he continued and she glanced away awkwardly.

He took a deep breath and seemed to hold it for a very long time.

"Spock?" she asked gently, pushing up on her elbow and looking down at him with mild concern. "What's the matter?" He exhaled very slowly before he finally spoke.

"This...nonsense...you hear about our mating habits. It is inaccurate but it is based on a biological reality," he informed her as though he were delivering a lecture.

"Ah...okay," she told him and he rubbed his lips together before a brief rambling diatribe tumbled from his lips.

"Every seven years adult Vulcans experience a chemical imbalance in the brain which induces a kind of mania. I feel I should warn you that should this occur I will likely become increasingly erratic and violent. I may begin to display excessively predatory sexual behavior towards you," he prattled in his professor's voice. Nyota sat upright and crossed her legs, running her gaze up and down his prone form and noting that he would not meet her eyes."It is...an evolutionary remnant," he clarified. "It is not something that is spoken of, even among our own kind. I trust you will not share this with anyone else." Nyota nodded and reached for his hand.

"Okay I won't tell although I'm still not sure what it is I'm not telling," she said and he took a deep breath, pushing upright and leaning closer.

"Nyota it..." Spock hesitated and let out a despondent sigh. "It is not logical," he breathed, shaking his head from side to side. Nyota reached up and gently clasped his shoulders, leaning close and catching his eye.

"Maybe you should just show me," she suggested and his face took on a very serious expression.

"There are some things I do not particularly wish for you to see," he said gravely. Nyota pursed her lips and sucked on the inside of her cheek.

"Spock why did you even mention it if you're just going to leave me in the dark?" she said with a sigh and he took a slow breath, staring over her shoulder with a faraway look.

"I...I do not wish to discourage you," he confessed and she stroked her hand down his face.

"I'm not discouraged," she assured him. "Come on it can't be that bad." Spock looked her right in the eye. Nyota held his gaze, meeting his eyes with a look of determination as she reached down and picked up his hand.

"I...I cannot seem to find the words," he confessed.

"Show me then," she told him, placing his hand on her face. Spock looked away and she clasped his chin and turned his face back towards her. "Show me."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she felt the familiar tingle of his mind and when she opened them she looked up at Spock to find him clad in dark Vulcan robes, watching her with a very serious expression.

"Is this Vulcan?" she queried and he nodded mutely. She licked her lips and took a minute to look around the dusty ruins around them. "What is this place?"

"This is the land of my family. It has been held by us for more than two thousand Earth years. This is our place of Koon-ut-kaliffee," he explained and she felt suddenly very strange.

"This is where you get married," she said, turning and sinking down onto a rock. Spock nodded and moved closer, sitting down on the rock beside her.

"You are uncomfortable" he stated softly, staring ahead with a distant expression. She licked her lips.

"No, I'm just...," she said hesitantly. "I can feel your disquiet." Spock took shallow silent breaths and blinked slowly.

"There are some things that are not...logical," he said after a while and she chewed the inside of her cheek.

"You know it's serious when a Vulcan tells you logic is flawed." Spock scowled.

"Logic offers a serenity Humans seldom experience," he said haughtily and she smiled.

"I'm teasing," she assured him and he huffed a little.

"I am attempting to share with you a deeply private aspect of Vulcan society and you make light of it," he complained. Nyota dipped her chin.

"No, I'm sorry, please continue." He took a deep breath in through his nose and pursed his lips.

"You are aware that I am...a jealous man," he ventured and she quirked a brow.

"Oh yes, I'm aware," she quipped.

"In times gone by Vulcans would fight to win their mates," he continued and Nyota pulled a face.

"You'd fight? You're right, that doesn't seem very logical," she quipped.

"I have already explained that there are instances where logic fails," he chided and she dug her teeth into her lip.

"You did, yes," she agreed, pressing her lips together to keep from smirking. Spock drew himself up a little straighter and continued.

"Those...primitive urges...are still with us today." Nyota's brow slowly furrowed as she listened to him talk. "Every seven years those...urges...resurface and..."

"Wait, so you're telling me that's what's going to happen to you?" she asked with confusion.

"I am not certain it will happen," he told her. "We had hoped my Human genes would spare me from it but we cannot be certain."

"We?" Nyota queried gently. Spock shuffled a little closer.

"My father and my mother and I," he explained.

"Wuh...?" she chuffed, shaking her head in confusion.

"It is the mating drive," he said with finality. "We must mate or die trying."

"Oh god, you'll die?" she gasped turning to look at him with horror. Spock glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Perhaps you understand some of our customs a little better now," he said. Nyota sat up straight and quirked her brow.

"Like why your family is so hot on you getting married," she murmured.

"Yes," Spock replied. "So that when the time comes..."

"I didn't realize it was so...serious," she commented and he gave her a look.

"But you are beginning to appreciate why," he ventured and she nodded.

"Yeah I think perhaps I do," she replied. "But...so...so this hasn't happened to you yet?" she asked with concern. Spock quirked his brow.

"There have been occasions recently when I suspected it," he said and she tilted her head to one side in comprehension. "But the answer is no."

"So...what, you're going to get all...violent and erratic and...sexual?" she asked, screwing her eyes up as she processed what he was saying.

"It is...a distinct possibility," he replied, dipping his chin and avoiding her gaze.

She chewed her lip for a second. "Okay," she chirped. Spock cautiously peeked up at her. "Well thank you for telling me."

"You are not...discouraged?" he asked meekly. Nyota furrowed her brow and gazed across the dusty ruins. They sat in silence for a long moment and Spock did not make any move to touch her and after a while, cautiously, timidly, she slid her hand across the rock and clasped his two fingers in her palm. Spock turned to her and when she met his gentle eyes she found herself sitting buck naked on the bed once again, Spock snuggled up close beside her. Nyota smiled at him and snuggled back.

"I feel...strange," she murmured. Spock nuzzled her forehead with his chin, his hand stroking through her hair and gently down her arm.

"Emotional transference is an effect of the mind meld," he mumbled against her skin. She hummed.

"Is...when you say emotion," she said cautiously. "Is that because you're half Human?" Spock shifted and held her close.

"Maybe," he said quietly. "Vulcans are capable of emotion but they...we...choose not to show them." She nodded against his shoulder and remained silent. "For us...for Vulcans...emotion can be...overwhelming. We must control them or...or they will control us." Nyota licked her lips and ran her fingertip through the fuzz of hair across his chest.

"So...what you feel, is it...Human or is it Vulcan?" she asked in a timid voice. Spock took a deep breath and hesitated.

"I...do not know, I do not fully understand," he explained after a minute. "What I am..." His voice wavered and she squeezed him tight. "I think...I feel...it is not logical but...I wonder sometimes. I am not Human but I am not completely Vulcan. If I were I would not..." Nyota screwed her eyes up and hid her face in his neck.

"Don't," she whispered, suddenly terribly afraid of what he might say. He closed his eyes and clasped his palm across the crown of her head.

"I do not regret this," he told her. "I can not and I will not regret...you." She held her breath and clung onto him for dear life. A moment later he shifted and rolled her onto her back and when he pulled away from her, she drew her knees up under her chin and hugged her legs. She felt suddenly very cold and very lonely, watching with sad eyes as he got up from the bed and moved across the room. When he returned a minute later he was carrying a small box in his hand. "I...wish for you to have this," he explained gently, sitting close beside her and opening the box. He set it on his palm and held the box out towards her. Nyota peered inside and her mouth fell open.

"Spock...I...this is your pin," she said, looking up at him.

"I had it made into a pendant," he said, reaching his finger into the box and pulling out a fine chain on which hung the shimmering Vulcan IDIC pin he wore with his dress uniform. Nyota shook her head.

"I...I can't accept that, it's ….it's too precious," she said, clutching her hand to her chest as her heart leapt into her mouth. Spock's jaw quivered ever so slightly.

"You must...you must accept it," he explained, opening the dainty clasp and leaning forward to hang it around her neck. In spite of her protest Nyota lifted her hair out of the way as he fastened it and laid it delicately against her skin. She reached down and picked up the IDIC, running the pad of her thumb over the stone, a tear pricking her eye.

"Spock," she choked. He licked his lips and stared at the pendant in her hand.

"I wish for you to have a token...for you to understand," he said in a slow measured voice. "Before I met you I was...unwilling to feel. I was ashamed of it." Nyota met his eyes and reached up to cup his jaw in her hand. "I am not ashamed any more."

"I...I..." she stammered and Spock shook his head, shushing her with a gentle finger to her lips.

"You do not need to say anything," he told her softly. "Just promise that you will always wear this."

Nyota nodded furiously, a tear escaping her eye to roll down her cheek and Spock caught it on his knuckle, staring at it for a long moment with a look of confusion on his face. Nyota climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I promise," she breathed and he held her even tighter.

"Nyota," he said eventually and she shifted in his embrace, cupping his head in her hands and pressing her forehead against his.

"Spock, please I...I know what you want me to say but..." she rasped, taking a ragged breath. "I just need a bit more time to get used to the idea. Okay?" She looked him in the eye and stroked her fingers across his temple and tucked a wisp of hair behind his ear.

"I cannot bear the thought of another," he confessed with sad eyes.

"I do want to be with you," she told him earnestly.

"Then tell me I am the only one, that I will always be the only one," he implored and her eyes fell closed.

"I don't want anyone else," she assured him and his jaw quivered.

"And neither do I."


	17. Chapter 17

Spock was hunched forward in the water, his knees pressing into his chest and his eyes closed. Nyota was kneeling behind him scrubbing his back hard with a rough sponge and he swayed gently with the force of her movements. After a minute she reached for a ceramic cup and rinsed away the suds that covered his head and shoulders and Spock's lashes fluttered as the water cascaded down his face.

"All done," she murmured but when he turned and peered at her over his shoulder her brow furrowed. "You need to shave," she commented, rubbing her palm over his stubbly chin with a small smile. Spock blinked at her lazily and nodded. "Although I kinda like the beard," she told him playfully. Spock quirked his brow and she grinned.

She sat between his knees and held a mirror in her hands as he covered his face and neck with foam before lifting a razor to his cheek.

"Can I do it?" she squeaked and he met her eyes with a passive look.

"If you wish," he replied and looked at the razor in his hand for a second before holding it out to her. Nyota shrugged her shoulder in a restrained gesture of glee and set the mirror down, her backside squeaking against the porcelain tub beneath her as she slid closer and the water slopping up and down against the sides of the tub. She pressed her teeth into her lip and hefted the razor between them. "I..I don't know where to start," she told him. Spock raised his chin and peered down his nose at her.

"Start at the bottom," he instructed.

"Go upwards?" she queried.

"Yes," Spock replied and she delicately pressed the razor against the side of his throat. "You will need to exert greater force," he explained.

"I don't want to cut you," she told him nervously and he quirked his brow.

"I assure you, you will not injure me with that particular device," he said, looking at the razor in her hand.

"Okay," she chirped, pressing harder and dragging the blade up his skin with a delicate rasp. Nyota rinsed the blade in the bathwater and continued. Spock's hands gently came to rest on her waist under the water, his thumbs stroking up and down.

"This is agreeable," he told her quietly and she smiled.

"I've wanted to try this forever," she told him, her eyes focussed intently as she cautiously swiped across his Adam's apple.

"It is...quite intimate," he noted and she huffed a little breath of amusement. "Almost erotic."

"I...I feel like I want to take care of you," she explained to the gentle sound of water splashing as she rinsed the blade once more.

"I am content to let you do so," he murmured.

"I feel responsible," she confessed, hesitating for a second. "This whole situation is...it's my fault." Spock looked over her shoulder and considered his reply but when he did not answer immediately Nyota fell silent and continued her ministrations on his cheek.

"You are not to blame," he said quietly. "I have allowed myself to become complacent." Nyota dropped her eyes.

"Because of me," she said.

"Because of myself," Spock assured her but she wasn't convinced.

"I'm sorry if I've...behaved inappropriately," she said contritely. "I don't want to come between you and your family." Spock shook his head gently.

"I will not choose them over you," he told her. "And you should not feel any obligation to me or to them because you asked them for help." Nyota's lips quivered and she stared at the water, the room quiet but for the quiet drip drip of the faucet behind her.

"I...made promises," she said eventually. Spock watched her carefully and after a moment, cautiously raised his hand to slide his finger under the chain around her neck. He rubbed the pendant between his thumb and his forefinger.

"Whatever you promised you must understand that with or without you, my decision to be here, on Earth, has always been a source of contention between my father and I," Spock told her.

"He's your father, I'm sure he just wants what is best for you," she commented and he nodded gently.

"Perhaps," he murmured.

"We have to think about what happens when we get back," she said. "We have a flight in a few hours."

"Things are complicated, I understand that," he said gently. "We risk much being together. Professionally. Personally." She nodded but didn't meet his eyes.

"I wasn't really thinking," she admitted. "I just...wanted you, I didn't care how."

"You were not the only one," he assured her and she raised her chin to give him a hint of a smile.

"I'm sorry if I have...dishonored you. Your father must hate me."

"He does not hate," Spock explained. "He is a Vulcan." She chuffed a breath.

"Well that's good to hear, because he's stuck with me now," she said swiping the blade along his chin. Spock watched her carefully.

"So you have decided?" he asked and her brows went up a little way and her nostrils flared.

"It's not what I was expecting but you're a Vulcan and this is the Vulcan way."

"It is," he told her gently and she met his eyes.

"I'm starting to feel you in my head," she confessed. "Even when we're apart." Spock nodded.

"I am sorry if you feel that I have trapped you," he said and she chuckled.

"On the contrary, I consider myself very fortunate," she told him with a timid smile.

"I am glad," he told her, blinking at her slowly and a moment later she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss.


	18. Chapter 18

"Spock you will walk with me," the Ambassador commanded and the Admiral gave Spock a look that seemed to say you will walk with him or you'll be scrubbing plasma conduits for the rest of your career. Spock said nothing and fell obediently into step beside his father, leaving Nyota and the Admiral standing before the old woman, a gaggle of Vulcan escorts loitering a little way away.

Silently they made their way across the room until eventually Sarek came to a halt and turned to his son with a blank expression.

"Your presence is not unexpected," Sarek said flatly in Vulcan and Spock's brow quirked a little.

"The Admiral is ill acquainted with our ways," he stated. "He misguidedly believes my presence might have some impact on T'Pau's decision." Sarek shifted and crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands into the wide sleeves of his Vulcan robes.

"She will refuse the seat on the Federation Council," he intoned and when Spock did not reply he pursed his lips and considered his son carefully. "You have no comment?" he queried.

"I am here as a representative of Starfleet," Spock told him. "It is not my place to comment on the politics of the Federation or those of Vulcan." Sarek was unimpressed.

"Are you not Vulcan?" he asked dourly. Spock stood up a little straighter.

"I am," he replied and Sarek's brow twitched.

"And yet you reject your heritage and all that it implies," he said.

"I do not reject it, I simply choose another way," Spock answered. His father dipped his chin a little and looked him up and down.

"I wonder what your purpose is in coming here tonight," he said. Spock blinked.

"I do as I am commanded," he uttered neutrally and Sarek's brow went up again.

"I had no doubt you would excel among the Humans but you flaunt more than your professional achievements," he observed. Spock did not reply but held his father's intense stare. "You do not deny it then?"

"To do so would be illogical," Spock replied at length.

"Indeed it would. You positively reek of each other," he drawled and Spock stiffened slightly. "You were aware of this, Spock. I wonder what you hope to achieve by this...gasconade of virility."

"Father your capacity for hyperbole is almost Human" Spock uttered and his father's nostrils flared.

"If you are attempting to goad me into revealing some hereto hidden hypocrisy on my part, you will fail," his father told him.

"And yet you do not approve," Spock challenged and his father stood a little straighter.

"What I disapprove of is thoughtless fornication," he drawled and Spock's lip twitched at the suggestion. "T'Pau has always gone beyond her duty to you."

"I am aware of my debt to her," Spock replied. "It is to honor her that I wear the Kol-ut-Shan." Sarek was unimpressed.

"She made great efforts to secure a good match for you. You do her no honor by this...dissipation," he replied. Sarek did not miss the slight clench of his son's jaw.

"I do not consider it dissipation," Spock informed his father with a hint of condescension and Sarek narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me you have not melded with this female?" he uttered, scandalized at the very idea of such impropriety. Spock swallowed and avoided his father's eyes. Sarek took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his nostrils flaring. "I do not need to tell you the implications of your actions."

"You do not," Spock replied with some discomfort. Sarek narrowed his eyes.

"And is your companion aware?!" Spock clasped his hands behind his back, taking silent, shallow breaths. "Spock! Have you no self control?"

"I do not believe she entirely opposed to the possibility," Spock countered defensively. "But you are well aware that Human customs in this regard are different from our own."

"Indeed I am so perhaps you would care to explain why your chosen consort is currently hanging from the arm of this gentleman instead of your own?" Spock's nostrils flared and he pursed his lips.

"The situation is...complex," he explained. "I am her superior." Sarek's expression darkened.

"Is there no end to your recklessness?"

"I have meditated at length on the situation," Spock assured him and Sarek's shoulders sagged imperceptibly.

"And yet you permit this outrage?" he hissed.

Spock blinked and met his father's eyes. "Explain." Sarek looked at him intently and quirked his brow.

"It is unbecoming of a Vulcan wife to... disport herself in this manner," he said. "If you had any dignity you would not allow it." Spock's eyes widened a little as his father's words sunk in. Sarek shook his head and glanced back towards Nyota.

"She is not my wife," Spock clarified and his father's lip twitched ever so slightly.

"And therein lies your error," he drawled. Spock squared his shoulders, his eyes darting from side to side.

"I am uncertain if she is amenable to the prospect of marriage at this juncture," Spock confessed and Sarek let out the tiniest of sighs.

"Then I suggest you make certain and act accordingly," he replied. Spock's lashes fluttered.

"Your reaction is unexpected," he said with a quirk of his brow. Sarek raised his chin.

"You are my son," he explained. "My reaction is...logical." Sarek held his son's gaze for a long moment before Spock blinked and looked away. Sarek exhaled a long breath through his nose. "You will not set foot again in my house until it is done," he said after a long pause. "I will not have you bring dishonor on our family but cavorting like...like a Human!" And with that he turned and almost flounced away, leaving a stunned Spock alone as he stalked back towards the Vulcan delegation.

T'Pau barely glanced at him as he returned to her side although his irritation was clearly evident.

"Your emotional display is most unbecoming," she drawled, her eyes on Spock as he watched Nyota and the Admiral from across the room.

"I beg forgiveness," Sarek uttered in a low voice. T'Pau shifted, her cane scraping across the floor quietly.

"Your son has mated with this female," she observed and Sarek's eyes darted from side to side.

"It is not logical but it is true," Sarek admitted.

"His mother is Human," she reminded him. "It is not illogical that he might seek a Human mate."

"I regret the dishonor he brings on our family with this...licentiousness," Sarek murmured apologetically and T'Pau quirked the slightest of brows in response.

"Stonn will not regret it," she replied. "I do not believe he relishes the prospect of murdering his cousin when the time comes. For this we must be grateful." Sarek stood up a little straighter and tucked his hands into his sleeves. "He is more like you than you realize," she continued. Sarek considered this.

"I behaved with dignity," Sarek stated. "I did not mate with his mother until after our marriage."

"The Engulfment is a universal constant Sarek," she commented. "There is no indignity yielding to that which we cannot control."

"Your logic is as perspicacious as ever, T'Pau," he said, turning to look at his son.

"They hide their relationship," she noted and Sarek nodded.

"The Humans will not understand. Their logic is not like ours." T'Pau pursed her lips.

"I have hope for their race," she replied serenely.

"She is his subordinate," Sarek explained. "It is considered...improper."

"Is this why they are not wed?" she asked.

"She is young," he told her with some discomfort. "I believe my son fears she will not consent."

T'Pau stared across the room at Nyota and much to her surprise Nyota glanced up and stared right back. After a minute, Nyota delicately extricated herself from the Admiral's grip and quietly slipped away. Sarek and T'Pau watched as Spock turned and walked out of the room after her with a face like sandfire.

"She will consent," T'Pau said with finality. "And now I grow weary of this. You will remain on our behalf Ambassador. Bid Stonn escort me to my lodgings." Sarek gave a short bow and gestured to the Vulcan acolytes loitering nearby.


	19. Chapter 19

"Vulcans are a very patient race," Spock told Nyota smugly.

"For the logic of Surak," she muttered before ending the call. Spock held his communicator in his hand and prowled up and down the front of the building for a while until eventually the front door opened and Nyota stepped outside. She had changed out of her dress uniform and was wearing her familiar casual attire of dark pants and sweater, her face scrubbed free of make up but with a fierce scowl painted on instead. Spock swallowed hard.

"Alright, talk," she commanded in Vulcan. He sloped towards her with his shoulders slouched looking very much like a bad child being disciplined.

"I. Apologize," he said quietly and she pursed her lips.

"You better apologize," she said with irritation. "Who do you think you are?" He raised his eyes to look at her face.

"I am...a jealous man," he choked with some difficulty and she seemed to soften a bit.

"That's an emotion, Spock," she told him and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am aware," he growled and she huffed again, shaking her head.

"Do you want everyone to know our private business?" she whispered. Spock blinked slowly and took a breath, glancing up to see a green face peeking out of her bedroom window.

"Does your associate have your confidence?" he asked. Nyota took a breath and glanced around.

"I think so," she breathed. "I think she's known for a while. Orions can sense these sorts of things better than most." Spock swallowed and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"Walk with me," he uttered and she pursed her lips for a second.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said firmly and he sighed with exasperation.

"There are things to be discussed and it would be prudent I think not to discuss them here," he told her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not coming home with you tonight," she said pointedly but then she turned and took a step down the stairs anyway. Spock walked beside her and glanced around as they passed out of the quad towards the reflecting pool, stone benches laid out in an octagon in the Rigellian zen style.

"Come with me," he uttered rapidly, clutching her arm and dragging her into the trees.

"What are you doing?" she demanded and he clenched his jaw, raising his hand and wafting it in front of her face.

"There are methods of communication which are more expedient," he reminded her gently and she sighed.

"In public?!" she gasped, her eyes going wide as she glanced around. Spock clenched his jaw and gave her a pointed look. "Oh, alright," she conceded, rolling her eyes and standing up a little straighter as her reached forward and pressed his fingers over her cheek. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and when she opened them she turned to see Admiral Barnett's smiling face.

"We do what we must," he said and lead her back into the reception room. "Do you dance Lieutenant Uhura?" he asked and she blinked in confusion.

"Yuh...yes I do," she told him and he bowed a little before extending his hand but before she could take it, another greener hand shot out to grab the Admiral by the collar. Nyota's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped as she turned to see Spock standing beside them with narrowed eyes.

"But not with you," he growled at the Admiral. Spock hoisted him up a little way off the floor before hurling him inelegantly backwards over the buffet, knocking the carved ice centrepiece tumbling to the ground and sending a mass of grapes flying across the floor like rubber balls. Nyota gawped in shock and Spock quirked his brow before taking her still outstretched hand in his own and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Spock!" she choked in surprise and his lip twitched.

"Nyota," he replied, twirling her onto the dance floor as the orchestra began to play a waltz. She shook her head.

"There wasn't an orchestra," she said in confusion. Spock shrugged.

"There is now," he told her and as she met his eyes a slow half smile spread across her face.

"I didn't know you could dance," she said as he spun her masterfully across the floor under the watchful eyes of the summit attendees.

"I cannot," he informed her. "This must be from you." She stifled a giggle and held on tightly as the danced. "Although you must know that if I could, I would."

"Would you really?" she quipped and he scowled.

"You do not believe me?" Spock replied.

"I think the sight of a dancing Vulcan would attract a lot of attention, don't you?" she queried and he quirked his brow.

"I am starting to believe such attention would be preferable to having to further endure this...intrigue," he drawled and she rolled her eyes.

"If you think I enjoyed being paraded around like a prize poodle you are mistaken," Nyota uttered tiredly.

"Sometimes I think it thrills you to antagonize me," he accused and she scowled.

"You think I enjoy it when you act like a spoiled child whose favorite toy has been taken away?" she countered and his eyes went wide.

"I do not view you as a toy, Nyota," he told her earnestly.

"Good because I don't particularly enjoy being objectified!"

"It was not my intention do so," Spock assured her.

"What was your intention Spock?" she sighed in exasperation. Spock's lip twitched.

"If you are referring to my father, I did not believe it to be relevant when I asked you to accompany me." Nyota pulled a funny face.

"Spock in the circumstances I think it is pretty damned relevant don't you?" she told him and his brow furrowed, his eyes darting from side to side in discomfort.

"I had not anticipated our...entanglement...would proceed at quite such a prodigious pace!" he scowled and she shook her head.

"You think he knows about us?" she murmured and he sighed.

"I am certain of it," he told her and she gulped.

"Oh," she chuffed.

"Oh indeed," Spock replied and she licked her lips, working her jaw from side to side for a second before she spoke again.

"And I suppose he...doesn't approve," she asked cautiously. Spock looked at her with sleepy eyes and quirked his brow.

"He was his usual obstinate self, " he remarked. "In some ways his constancy is reassuring."

"I ah...I'm sorry if you were embarrassed in front of your father Spock," she told him sadly.

"Do not be sorry Nyota, it is I who have behaved inappropriately," he told her softly and she sighed.

"Spock if you'd told me he was going to be there..."

"Regardless, I had not anticipated Admiral Barnett would be quite so...attentive," he muttered, curling his lip at the mere mention.

"And I hadn't anticipated you would be so..." she hesitated and Spock raised his brow questioningly. Nyota sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Did you really expect otherwise?" She dropped her gaze to his chest in contrition.

"You think I enjoy winding you up but that's not it," she explained.

"What do you enjoy?" he asked and she sighed.

"You Spock," she told him. "I enjoy you and...this." Spock considered this.

"Indeed I must confess I find this activity surprisingly gratifying," he observed with a quirk of his lips and before she could reply she felt a funny twinge in the back of her head and then the room was different. The music was still playing and they were still dancing but they were no longer in the dreary function room at the summit and Nyota looked up with amazement at an enormous chandelier that sparkled above them.

"Oh my god!" she gasped as she took in the tall baroque ceiling painted with bright colors and inlaid with gold. When she looked at Spock he was watching her with amusement and she took a moment observe in his attire. Gone was the dress uniform and instead he was wearing a snug fitting coat with long tails and a jaunty little bow at his neck. She chuckled and he tilted his head to one side. Nyota's brow furrowed as she realised she was holding her skirt in her hand and she glanced down to find herself wearing a flowing white evening gown. "Spock!" she uttered looking up and meeting his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Vienna," he informed her as they caroused through the mass of bodies likewise attired as they twirled on the dance floor.

"I've never been to Vienna," she told him.

"Neither have I," Spock drawled. "I saw it once in a holographic projection."

"I love you," she told him playfully and he nodded.

"That is just as well," he replied. "I told my father I was going to marry you." Her jaw dropped.

"You didn't!" Spock tilted his head to one side.

"That is not the reaction I had anticipated," he explained.

"Wuh...duh...didn't you think you had better ask me first?" she asked stunned. Spock's lips twitched.

"I am asking you now," Spock replied and Nyota choked for a second before she burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Spock watched her fondly, held her close and spun her around and around and around and around...

When she finally stopped laughing she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently.

"You have not said yes yet," he breathed and she felt her heart constrict.

"Spock I..." she breathed. "I don't know what to say."

"Do you not wish to make an honest man of me?"

Nyota opened her mouth to speak but couldn't get the words out. He stopped spinning her around and she let go of her dress, her shoulders sagging. "But Spock, we...we've only been together for five minutes!"

They stood in the middle of the floor, the other dancers and the music suddenly more of a mockery than anything. Nyota gasped again and blinked and when she opened her eyes she no longer saw the herringbone tile of the dance floor but the dark moss of the bushes beneath her feet. When she looked up Spock was watching her with sad eyes. "Spock," she breathed and he dropped his chin and stepped back out onto the path. Nyota slipped out after him and when she glanced at her chronometer barely a minute had gone by.

"I will escort you to your quarters," he murmured not looking at her and her eyes fell closed.

"I...I think there's a lot we still have to talk about," she ventured, reaching gently to tug at the fabric of his sleeve. She wanted to reach out and take his hand, to let him know what she was thinking but she dare not. She couldn't, they couldn't be seen to be so familiar, not after everything that had transpired on the stairs and now sneaking around like teenagers in the bushes. She hoped to god Gaila would keep her mouth shut and then a second later her comm trilled in her pocket. Spock glanced at her sideways as she read, keeping silent as she replied to her friend's concerned message.

"I'm just telling her I'm okay," she assured him, tucking the comm away again and he nodded but said nothing. "Please don't think I'm rejecting you Spock," she said, watching his profile as they walked down the grass towards the reflecting pool.

"I do not understand," he murmured. "Either you wish to be with me or you do not." Nyota slouched dejectedly.

"It's not that I don't want to be with you," she explained. "It's... things are already complicated enough as it is and now...now you start talking about getting married and...I don't know."

"What don't you know?" he asked, coming to a stop beside her and looking her right in the eye. Nyota chewed her lip for a second.

"Oh come on, you know there's lots of things you haven't told me," she uttered tiredly.

"Ask me anything and I will tell you," he said with a definitive nod of his chin. Nyota smacked her lips and crossed her arms, ambling along the path a little way.

"Alright," she said, clearing her throat. "Why didn't you tell me who your father was?" Spock fell into step beside her.

"It did not seem relevant," he replied and she nodded.

"It did not seem...huh," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Would it have influenced your decision to...be...with me?" he countered and she pursed her lips.

"Maybe," she confessed. Spock narrowed his eyes.

"Which variation of maybe?" he demanded. Nyota glared at him.

"May I just say that I don't appreciate the insinuation that I would have been any more interested in you because you have a big house or... whatever. If anything I might have been less inclined to...throw myself at you quite so enthusiastically."

"Then it is just as well I did not mention it," Spock replied and she tilted her head to one side disapprovingly.

"I wonder what else you haven't mentioned," she drawled, narrowing her eyes at him a little. He narrowed his eyes right back.

"I was not aware that your affection was quite so conditional," he accused and she huffed.

"Look I don't care if you have a big house with a mountain of latinum in the basement..."

"There is no mountain of latinum and it is actually more of a cave than a basement..." he informed her.

"Spo-ock," she whined.

"...and I feel the need to interject that most Vulcans enjoy considerable material comforts," he stated in his typically logical monotone. "Although as a culture we are comparatively..." Nyota threw her hands in the air and paced ahead. "...spartan," he finished, staring after her in confusion before trotting along behind her. "Nyota."

"Honestly, what was I thinking?" she asked no one in particular. "What was I thinking getting involved with a Vulcan?" Spock narrowed his eyes at her and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What are you implying?" he asked sternly, the hurt evident in his voice. Nyota shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, look I don't mean to imply anything, I'm just...I just didn't expect this okay," she told him and he raised his chin and peered down his nose at her.

"What were you thinking?" he asked darkly and she looked up, searching his eyes and finding nothing.

"What do you mean?" she replied and he narrowed his eyes, huffing a breath through his nostrils.

"What am I?" he asked and she furrowed her brow a little. "What do you see when you look at me?" Nyota blinked and opened her mouth to speak but he continued. "Am I just some...walking talking alien phallus for you to amuse yourself with?" Her jaw dropped. "I suppose I see now," he murmured, nodding his head slightly. "The Human kind is too easy. You can have any one you want but...a Vulcan, that's a bit more of a challenge for you isn't it?"

"Spock," she gasped and he fairly sneered at her.

"What a thrill it must have been for you? Breaking me down...making me lose my control...my dignity..."

"Kroykah" she whispered, screwing her eyes up.

"...crawling around on my knees like an a snivelling animal..."

"Spock! Kroykah!" she snapped, blinking back tears.

"...just so you'd let me lie between your legs."

"KROYKAH!" she snarled, shoving him hard on the chest. Spock staggered back a step and blinked hard, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you?" she sobbed, looking at him like he was a stranger. He dropped his gaze to the shimmering water in the reflecting pool and clenched his jaw.

"I shared my mind with you," he breathed. "Does that mean nothing to you?" Nyota dropped her eyes in contrition and sniffed.

"Of course it does," she assured him gently.

"I do not know if you understand what it means," he uttered and she looked him in the eye.

"Spock I...I do...I do know...but you... " she managed, her lip quivering as she spoke.

"I am...a jealous man," breathed after a minute. "And you do not want to marry me." Nyota clenched her teeth to hide the quiver of her jaw.

"Spock I...I just...need some time...," she said very softly. He took a deep breath and stood up with all the dignity of the most logical Vulcan.

"How much...time do you require?" he asked, looking at his chronometer. Nyota gave a sideways glance and gently pushed his arm down.

"What I mean Spock is...ask me again later..." she told him and he furrowed his brow.

"Define later." Nyota sighed.

"A long time," she said. "Months, years maybe." Spock stiffened and stood up even straighter.

"How many years?" Nyota chuffed a tired breath.

"Just...try to be patient will you? I'm only Human." Spock nodded in understanding.

"Then it is fortunate for you that I am a Vulcan and that Vulcans are a patient race," he told her. Nyota smiled.

"Oh, Spock."


	20. Chapter 20

"I believe it would be prudent to dedicate an afternoon to correcting the program itself," Spock said and Nyota nodded.

"That sounds interesting," she replied. "I don't know enough about programming as it is. We could do it now, if you don't mind me getting in the way?"

"I do not," he assured her, sliding the tray back into the tower. When she stood upright, he blinked as her hair brushed against the side of his face and froze for a second. A moment later as he stood also, he realised they were standing a little too close for propriety although he had to admit it was not exactly unpleasant. She licked her lips and his gaze flitted down to her mouth before dropping briefly to give her the once over. Her breath seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet. "I have completed the reset of the computer," he murmured, meeting her eyes once more. Nyota nodded mutely and stood frozen, trapped between him and the tower behind.

"Uh huh," she mumbled, her lashes fluttering as she chewed on her lip for a second before shuffling sideways towards the door, well aware that her bosom pressed intimately against him as she did so but unable to do anything else.

Nyota loitered in the hallway, her eyes falling on to the round swell of his backside as Spock closed the door to the server room. When he turned to her she gave him a small, polite smile before falling into step as they made their way back to the office. When they entered she ambled back towards her station and when she turned around she found Spock hovering inside the door with an oddly perplexed look on his face. She chewed her lip and shifted from foot to foot.

"Shall I pull up my chair?" she queried with the tiniest of coughs. Spock raised his eyes and stared at her for a brief moment.

"That would be acceptable," he said hurriedly, holding her gaze for a second before starting towards his desk. Nyota turned and clasped the back of her chair in her hands, her tongue swiping across her lips and her eyes darting from side to side. Taking a fortifying breath she plastered a confident smile on her face and pushed her chair around his desk so that it was beside his. Spock was already seated and had a tab open on his console. Nyota furrowed her brow a little as she took in the lines of gibberish that constituted the computer programme Spock had written so that his students could write Vulcan ideographs on Academy consoles.

"I am so out of my depth," she commented as she slid down into her seat. Spock tilted his head to one side.

"I have faith in your abilities," he assured her. She gave him a sceptical look and he dipped his chin at her in a sympathetic gesture. "Consider it a language you have yet to learn." Nyota smiled a little and leaned closer.

"If you don't mind me asking but how did you end up in the Linguistics department?" Spock pursed his lips as he considered his reply.

"A position was available, I was in need of a posting," he replied as if that should be sufficient explanation. Nyota shook her head dissatisfied.

"Yeah but Spock, you're a scientist and...you were on a Starship," she countered. "And I don't want to sound like a traitor to my own kind but...isn't Xenolinguistics a bit dull for you?" Spock turned to meet her eyes.

"I do not find that to be the case," he assured her. "And besides, as a scientist, I seek all forms of knowledge even those that deviate from the subjects in which I am formally trained." Nyota nodded and pursed her lips, watching his profile as he turned back to the screen.

"Ah," she chirped, her eyes flicking up and down his face. "That's a very good attitude to have." He really was to handsome for his own good.

"I have been on occasion seconded to other areas," he remarked as his fingers glided across the keyboard.

"What are you doing here?" she queried, pointing with her finger at a highlighted section of code.

"I am isolating particular subroutines," he told her. "This section here is I believe, the cause of the error." Nyota narrowed her eyes and peered at the text, chewing her lip and resolving not to mention that she was totally lost. "One...moment..." Spock murmured, flicking to another window. Nyota gave him a sideways glance and leaned her chin in her hand.

"What other areas do you work in?" she asked mildly and Spock tilted his head towards her ever so slightly and peeked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Programming, invariably," he admitted with a hint of amusement and she chuffed a little breath out of her nose.

"Oh of course, you do the Kobayashi Maru don't you?" she replied and Spock nodded. "You know there's a lot of people want to get you back for that." Spock's brow twitched a little.

"That is the common response," he agreed and she smiled. "See here," he said, pointing at the screen. "I believe this is the source of the conflict." Nyota glanced back and hummed, nodding her head in interest although she still had no idea what the problem was.

"Oh...kay," she told him, leaning back in her chair and gripping the armrests.

"If I alter the code here..." he murmured, falling silent as his fingers flew across the console.

"You're such a brainiac Spock," Nyota commented playfully and he gave her a sideways glance.

"Shall we test that hypothesis?" he said with a quirk of his brow and she smiled. Spock pressed a few buttons and then opened another window, loading the altered programming. Nyota leaned forward, their shoulders pressing together as they peered intently at the screen and two seconds later she grimaced toothily as the console jammed up. Spock's brow furrowed for just a second and she chuffed a little breath.

"Whoops," she chirped, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Guess we better reset."

"Indeed," Spock said, leaning back in his seat with a slight sigh.

"Come on," she said, nudging his shoulder with her own and rising from her seat. Spock followed her with his eyes as she slipped around the table and headed towards the door. "You coming?" Spock did not reply and silently rose to follow her into the hall.

When he opened the door to the server room, Nyota slipped under his arm and disappeared into the darkness ahead of him. She shuffled along and came to a stop in front of a tower, reaching for circuit when Spock stilled her movements with a gentle hand to the elbow.

"It is the next one," he informed her softly.

"Oh, silly me," she uttered bashfully, shuffling along a little further. She crouched down a little way and pulled out the drawer as Spock did likewise, reaching out his hand to kill the power while she pulled out the crystal and dropped it back in again. Spock pressed the power button and the lights came back on and a second later Nyota closed the tray again. "Well at least that's one thing I can do," she quipped and Spock blinked at her lazily. She grinned at him. "I feel like when I was a child and I'd ask my dad to let me press the button at the traffic lights."

"I do not understand," he remarked and she licked her lips.

"Oh it doesn't really matter," she told him gently. Spock did not press her on the subject, distracted as he was by the sight of her tongue swiping over her lip. Nyota was not oblivious and swallowed, her eyes darting from side to side. "Okay," she chirped, standing up straight. Spock did likewise and they found themselves once again standing a little too close for propriety. Nyota's breath seemed very loud in her own ears and she become suddenly very self conscious. Spock was looking at her with wide eyes and she hitched a shoulder and gave a little cough. "We should ah..." she mumbled and he nodded.

"Indeed," he uttered breathlessly, hesitating for just a moment before sliding along the narrow passageway towards the door.

Seated once again behind his desk, Nyota stared intently at the console while Spock babbled about the programming. She smiled and nodded, rubbing her palms on her skirt nervously. "There are other similar programs used for Terran idiograms," he told her, shifting in his seat a little way. Nyota cleared her throat and leaned forward in an effort to appear focussed. "It might on consideration be possible merely to...'patch'... a similar line of code from another programme," he said, turning his head and giving her the briefest of glances. Nyota turned to meet his eyes in acknowledgement, blushing furiously as their noses almost brushed together. She froze and stared into his eyes that were unnervingly close.

"Like this one?" she blustered, turning her head away suddenly and pointing at the screen. Spock swallowed hard.

"That is the flawed subroutine," Spock pointed out.

"Oh," Nyota uttered, her eyes darting from side to side, her hand frozen over the console. She winced and hunched her shoulders up. "I don't have a clue...what any of this means," she admitted, looking at him with a pained expression.

"I see," Spock told her, his own expression similarly stricken. She pursed her lips.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really much help am I?" she chuffed with phoney amusement, drawing her hand back and fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Spock licked his lips, hesitating for a moment before he spoke.

"You are inexperienced with computer programming," he said with a hint of sympathy. Nyota tilted her head to one side.

"You must think I'm an idiot," she said and Spock shook his head vigorously.

"You have many other assets which are highly commendable, Lieutenant" he told her sincerely. Nyota blushed even harder.

"Nyota," she breathed. "You can call me...Nyota. If you like." She stared at his Adam's apple as it bobbed in his throat.

"That is acceptable," he replied equally breathless.

"Huh," she uttered, glancing up to look at him through her lashes and finding him gazing at her with a dreamy expression.

"Nyota I..." he began with some difficulty. "I wish for you to know that I...value your companionship." She pressed her teeth into her lower lip, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest.

"I...value your companionship also," she told him, nodding enthusiastically. Spock opened his mouth to say more but he couldn't seem to get the words out. Nyota stared at him, holding her breath in anticipation. Spock moved his mouth but said nothing and the resulting silence was so unbearable she couldn't stand it. "Spock...um...I..." she mumbled, cautiously reaching forward with two fingers and timidly pressing them on top of his. Spock's expression relaxed a little and when she experimentally brushed her fingers down the back of his hand, he let out the tiniest sigh. Nyota blinked lazily and smiled at him. Spock blinked back and leaned ever so slightly closer, their noses almost touching when he spoke again.

"Nyota I...admire you...very much," he choked.

"UH huh," she whimpered, leaning even closer.

"But I am your...superior officer," he stammered. Her heart seemed to stop beating for a second and then he continued. "It would not...be appro...priate for us to..." Nyota screwed her eyes up tight and pressed her lips together.

"Oh god," she gasped. "I...I'm..." she shook her head, leaning back a way and pulling her fingers from his hand. "I'm...so...sorry."

Spock gulped hard. "Please do not apologize," he told her, reaching forward and trapping her hand beneath his on the desk. She opened her eyes to find his face still close to her own.

"This is...so embarrassing," she squeaked.

"Please believe me when I say that I am deeply gratified by the attention," he rasped and her expression softened. "If circumstances were otherwise..." She smiled weakly.

"Like...if you weren't...my boss," she ventured. Spock glanced over her shoulder and his brow slinked upwards.

"Nyota, Vulcans do not...we are..." he began, stumbling over the words. He leaned back a little way and dropped his gaze to her lap. "Our partners are selected for us by our families," he explained and her heart sank.

"Oh," she uttered almost inaudibly. Spock remained silent and looked her right in the eye with a wistful look.

"I am not at liberty to...with you..." he told her. Nyota stared with unfocussed eyes at the stubble on his chin for a long minute before leaning back in her chair.

"I've behaved inappropriately," she murmured, not looking at him.

"You have not," he assured her, squeezing her hand. She turned and looked at where their hands were pressed together on the table.

"I apologize," she said, delicately sliding her hand out from under his attempting to project an aura of nonchalance.

"There is no need," he replied, staring at the floor. Nyota straightened her shoulders and stared at the console. The cursor flickered at her tauntingly and her lip twitched a little. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before she cleared her throat and spoke.

"So...you were going to patch the...the...code."

Spock blinked and turned his face back towards the screen. "Yes," he stated. "I was." Nyota kept her eyes fixed on the screen as he punched some keys on the console and a minute later he hesitated again, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "I have amended the programme," he informed her. Nyota nodded, not looking at him.

"Why don't we see if it works?" she implored politely. Spock regarded her profile for a second.

"Yes." He reached forward and loaded the programme and Nyota held her breath. "It seems the patch was ineffective," he informed her in a neutral tone. She nodded mutely.

"I suppose we better go and reset the system," she murmured. Spock's eyes darted from side to side.

"I suppose," he replied. She hesitated for a moment before pushing abruptly up out of her seat and walking around the desk. Spock stood up and watched her disappear out of the door, taking short, shallow breaths and clenching his fists by his sides.

A minute later he appeared by her side as she struggled to get the door in the wall open, reaching his hand around the edge and tugging it open with ease. Nyota glanced up at him for the briefest of seconds before slipping silently in amid the towers that lined the server room. Spock blinked and slowly followed her inside. They stood in silence, Nyota pulling open the tray and Spock turning off the power.

"We have completed the...reset...," he breathed as she stood close, trapped between his body and the tower behind. She didn't say anything and as he stared into her eyes he found himself once again unable to move. Nyota took a fortifying breath and closed her eyes, reaching forward brazenly and pressing her lips against his. Spock froze for just a second before letting out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, wrapping his arms tightly around her and kissing her back for all he was worth. Nyota hummed against his lips and pressed her body flush against his, squirming in his embrace. Spock found the effect to be...highly pleasing and crushed her against the tower behind, his hips seeming to do things of their own volition. Nyota mumbled something into his mouth and shifted, lifting her leg to hook it over his hip. Spock grunted and hoisted her up, gratified by the way her legs wrapped around his waist.

Nyota buried her fingers in his hair and ground against him, delirious at the wonderful sensations that were coursing through her body. Spock was so sexy and she was kissing him in the server room and it was so inappropriate, he was her commanding officer and he really wasn't hers to be kissing but oh god, it was so hot that she just couldn't bring herself to stop. She wouldn't have, if it were not for the sound of loud voices in the corridor outside. Spock froze and she pulled her lips away from his with a muffled gasp, a panicked expression taking up residence on his face. She gulped and when she wriggled in his arms, Spock released her.

"You should..." she ventured, reaching up and smoothing her hand across his hair. Spock leaned forward and began to do likewise. Nyota adjusted her clothing and wiped her hand across her chin, slinking away down the narrow gap towards the door without looking at him. She stepped out into the corridor and glanced up and down to see a dozen or so cadets wandering down the hall out of a lecture room. She squared her shoulders and strode purposefully towards the office, flicking her hair over her shoulder and strutting as though she didn't have a care in the world.

"Hey!" Nyota turned to see a familiar green face smiling at her from down the hall.

"Hi," she chirped, plastering a smile on her face.

"Alright?" Gaila said as she approached.

"Hmm mmm," Nyota said with an enthusiastic nod of her head. A moment later Spock emerged from the server room appearing for all the world like an automaton, his face the perfect mask of Vulcan serenity. Without acknowledging anybody, he turned and closed the door to the server room and made his way towards his office.

"Good afternoon Commander," Gaila said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Good afternoon," he replied with a short nod before disappearing into his office. Gaila's eyes narrowed a little and she gave Nyota a suspicious glance. Nyota coughed.

"So," she began. "You all ready for our trip to Mars tomorrow?"


End file.
